OEB to hear from Westario Power customers about proposed rate hike

Westario Power customers are encouraged to take part in the Ontario Energy Board (OEB)'s review of the utility’s application to raise electricity distribution rates by $2.78 per month for the typical residential customer. The application may affect customers’ bills for the next five years.

Residents in Residents in Kincardine, Tiverton, Ripley, Lucknow, Clifford, Palmerston, Elmwood, Port Elgin, Southampton, Hanover, Harriston, Teeswater, Walkerton, Wingham, Neudstadt and Mildmay, are served by Westario Power. Rural residents are served by Hydro One. are served by Westario Power. Rural residents are served by Hydro One.

The OEB is holding a community meeting, Wednesday, Jan. 24, from 7-9 p.m. (doors open at 6:30 p.m.), at the Walkerton Legion, 505 Scott Street, Walkerton. This will be an opportunity for customers to ask questions of the OEB and Westario Power staff, about the application, and provide comments.

Westario Power customers are also invited to make brief presentations and participate in a question-and-answer period. Those who want to make a presentation, should contact the OEB at Registrar@oeb.ca or call 1-877-632-2727 (toll-free).

The meeting is part of the OEB’s commitment to engage, empower and protect consumers. For every major electricity rate application it receives, the OEB holds one or more meetings within the community affected so customers can learn why their utility is asking for new rates, how that money will be spent and how they can have a say in the review process.

All OEB-regulated utilities must apply to the OEB if they want to change their electricity rates, says OEB registrar Kristi Sebalj.

“We control costs by assessing the requested rate change through an open and robust review process,” she says. “We hold utilities to account, keeping rates as low as possible, while making sure utilities have what they need to keep the lights on.”

The amounts requested by Westario Power in its application relate to its distribution business and do not reflect any credits or other changes resulting from the Fair Hydro Act, 2017. Visit the OEB’s website at www.oeb.ca/fairhydro for an explanation of how the Fair Hydro Act, 2017 affects customers’ bills.

For more information, customers can visit www.oeb.ca/participate and use EB-2017-0084 to find Westario Power’s rate application.

The OEB has just begun reviewing this rate application. Reviews typically take between six to nine months to allow the OEB to properly examine all of the evidence in the case. The timeline also provides opportunities for customers of the utility, stakeholders and other interested parties to be heard by the OEB.

“The utility has to prove to the OEB that it needs a rate increase,” Sebalj says. “And, it rarely gets all it asks for.”

From 2009-16, the OEB has reviewed more than 130 major rate applications and reduced requested rate increases by an average of about 40 per cent. Overall, the OEB has kept the annual growth in average distribution rates close to the rate of inflation over that same period.

The OEB is the independent public regulator of Ontario’s energy sector. Its goal is to promote a sustainable and efficient energy industry that provides consumers with reliable energy services at a reasonable cost. This includes:
 

• Setting rates that are reasonable to consumers and allow utilities to maintain and invest in the system
• Making the OEB’s processes more understandable and accessible for consumers and actively seeking consumer input to improve these processes to achieve better results
• Looking out for consumer interests, investigating complaints and enforcing the rules

Since 2016, the OEB has held more than 30 community meetings. Feedback from community members helps inform the OEB’s final rate decisions.