Posts Tagged ‘OEB’

Resisting Ontario Power Bill Rip-Off

Tuesday, June 15th, 2010

One Ontario taxpayer/ratepayer has had enough of the Ontario power bill rip-off and is taking action. In an unprecedented submission to the Ontario Energy Board filed today, retiree Parker Gallant is demanding that the Ontario Energy Board reverse a recent ruling that allowed the Ontario Sustainable Energy Association (OSEA) to bleed ratepayers for costs incurred advocating for more subsidized transmission service for wind and solar farms. The Ontario Energy Board award in favour of OSEA appeared to accept OSEA’s claim that “We represent the consumer interests“. Gallant counters that OSEA as a front organization for Governments at two levels”, pointing out that OSEA is sucking up taxpayer cash from two Ontario government ministries, two taxpayer-funded Ontario government agencies, and one taxpayer-funded City of Toronto agency. Gallant concludes “OSEA obtained a favourable ruling from the Board in its May 21, 2010 Decision on Cost Eligibility under false and misleading information from OSEA. It is therefore necessary for the Board to reverse the elements of its Decision on Cost Eligibility that allowed OSEA to absorb an even greater quantum of public funds than it has already.

The same decision of the Ontario Energy Board that allowed OSEA to sextuple dip taxpayers and ratepayers also dinged ratepayers for the costs of promoting the interests of the Association of Power Producers of Ontario (APPRO), the Canadian Wind Energy Association (CanWEA), and the Ontario Waterpower Association (OWA) in the Board’s transmission planning review.

Electric Rate Shock: Ontario Energy Board

Sunday, February 7th, 2010

The attached essay is the first of a series on the factors underlying the dramatic increase in power rates about to arrive on bills of Ontario electricity consumers.

Access PDF: electric-rate-shock-oeb.

Ontario Government Shortens Ontario Energy Board’s Leash

Friday, September 4th, 2009

This July, the Ontario Energy Board (OEB) announced one year reappointments of two members, Vice-Chair Gord Kaiser and Member of the Board Paul Sommerville. Through its terms of reappointment, the Ontario government has now positioned the OEB so that five of the seven full-time members can be replaced by September 2010.

(https://www.pas.gov.on.ca/scripts/en/BoardDetails.asp?boardID=764)

The OEB’s mandating legislation allows the government to reappoint members of the board for terms of office of up to five years. Traditionally, longer terms have been common, encouraging the stability of OEB regulatory processes, continuity of expertise within the organization, and employment planning by appointees. Staggered terms of service are important measures for the proper governance of agencies like the OEB.

The McGuinty government’s exercise of control represented by the short, non-staggered terms of service for members of the OEB is consistent with the McGuinty government’s initiatives granting itself an expanding range of Ministerial directive powers over the board, most recently through the Green Energy Act.

Ontario’s traditions of independent energy regulation, which have served the province well, have suffered another setback.