It must be nice to live in a world where a 28 per cent price increase, even factored over five years, can be imposed without worrying about your customers.
In the real world, such an increase would have to come with more stuff and better service.
But B.C. Hydro doesn't have to live in the real world when it comes to prices. Neither, it seems, do the provincial government officials who approved the increase.
Hydro officials, as they're paid to do, are defending the increase, pointing out how B.C. residential rates for electricity are some of the lowest in Canada but they're missing the point. Everybody understands having to pay for electricity but what's hard to swallow is the size of the increase.
The budget impact on CNC, UNBC, Northern Health and the City of Prince George will be significant. The greatest impact will be felt at School District 57, which now has to find the funds to pay for the hefty hikes in the power bill for local schools.
In other words, one Crown corporation is laying on a hefty tax increase on the public sector, meaning residents won't just pay for the electricity rate increase with their home bills, they'll pay again through their taxes to support these agencies.
While residents are unable to shop around for electricity providers, they are not - pun intended - powerless, either. Some can invest in solar panels but the majority of people can make small but meaningful changes to their personal habits to eliminate most, if not all, of the price hike. Energy-efficient light bulbs help but so does the old-fashioned shutting the lights when you're not home and not in the room.
Residents can also go after those modern appliances that consume what some have called vampire power or phantom power. Those are the appliances that continue to suck electricity even when not in active use. Computers, game consoles, high-definition TV boxes and digital recorders continue to require electricity, even in 'sleep' or 'standby' mode. The reality with most home appliances is that if it's plugged in, it's using power, even if it's off.
In the kitchen, the fridge isn't the only appliance working 24/7. The clock on the stove, the coffee maker and the bread maker all need juice to work. In the bedroom, that clock radio never stops telling time, even though most people need it for five seconds or less each day. Invisible leprechauns are not charging the cell phone and the tablet.
It's more difficult for northern residents. Long, cold winters means the lights are on longer and vehicles need to be plugged in when the worst days of winter arrive. And how about those Christmas lights and the Christmas tree?
In other words, there are ways for residents to reduce consumption but they involve making modern home conveniences less convenient.
But if everybody did it, B.C. Hydro would be in the odd position of not having raised the $2 billion a year it says it needs to pay for its infrastructure upgrades. This begs the question -
would it have to raise rates again to bring in more revenue or would some of the upgrades not be necessary because less power was being consumed?
While the overall trend for power consumption rates is up, both businesses and residents can cut back. Although B.C. Hydro forecasts a 40 per cent increase in power use over the next 20 years, it does not predict any annual decreases, even though electricity use in the province plummeted in 2008, due to the global economic crisis, and took more than three years before it returned to the previous highs.
In the end, none of this matters. The rate hikes are coming and that's that.
All that's left is some silly word play for newspaper editors writing about the shocking increases.
When it comes to electricity, B.C. Hydro has all of the power and its customers have none.
And when those first bills show up next April with the beginning of the increases, that's when the customers will feel a real jolt.
