MLA Linda Larson met with Anarchist Mountain residents in December to hear their concerns about how two-tier electricity rates discriminate against those without access to natural gas. (Richard McGuire file photo)
An online petition protesting rural electricity two-tier pricing has gathered more than 150 signatures in less than a week.
The petition was launched by Anarchist Mountain resident Nick Marty with technical help from another mountain resident, Patti Brazeau.
Marty spoke at a public meeting in mid-December where he and other residents complained to MLA Linda Larson about how the two-tier rates charged by FortisBC are unfair to rural residents and are not effective in encouraging energy conservation.
Marty, who worked for several decades on energy conservation policy and regulation at the federal level, said the rate structure actually encourages consumption for urban residents while shifting the cost burden to rural residents who use electricity for space and water heating because natural gas is not available.
“We demand that the B.C. Utilities Commission (BCUC) immediately fix the design of their so-called conservation rate,” the petition says. “If they refuse once again to do so, we demand that the Government of B.C. instruct them to correctly design the Residential Conservation Rate (RCR) so that it no longer discriminates against rural customers and actually encourages all customers to conserve electricity as required by the BC Energy Plan.”
Marty said that once the petition gathers enough signatures, it will be sent to Premier Christy Clark, Energy Minister Bill Bennett and BCUC Chair and CEO Len Kelsey.
The petition was launched on Monday, Jan. 5 on the website GoPetition. A week later it had 155 signatures and was continuing to grow.
The signatures on the petition not only come from Anarchist, but also from other communities in the area that are similarly affected, including Kilpoola Estates and rural Osoyoos.
At the December meeting, Larson reminded the Anarchist Mountain residents that they live in large homes and she said residents of the low-income community of Hedley are suffering more because they have no access to gas and their homes are poorly insulated.
She did, however, agree to try to arrange a meeting for the Anarchist residents with Bennett.
Marty said he has not yet heard from the Boundary-Similkameen MLA about a meeting date. He hopes, however, that the petition will help to facilitate meetings with the minister and the BCUC.
“We certainly are awaiting that meeting with the minister,” said Marty. “I think that is the key to the whole thing, the meeting with the minister.”
Marty said word about the petition was spread by emails. Organizers asked people to forward emails to other people they know.
Marty, who retired in 2007, worked for several decades in energy conservation policy and energy regulation at senior levels with Natural Resources Canada and the National Energy Board.
He maintains that the two-tier rate structure is seriously flawed because most residents who have natural gas now consume all or most of their electricity at the lowest rate, which is lower than the old flat rate. This lower rate actually encourages consumption, he says.
Rural residents, who don’t have access to natural gas, obtain most of their electricity at the higher tier rate because 77 per cent of energy used in B.C. homes is for space and water heating.
Without access to natural gas, the alternative to electricity for rural residents is to burn wood, which is polluting, Marty says.
The petition suggests other alternatives for those without access to natural gas including setting a higher threshold for the higher rate tier, returning to a flat rate for those customers or bringing back time-of-use pricing.
Under time-of-use pricing, electricity customers pay a higher price for consuming electricity during peak hours and a lower price for using it at off-peak hours. This system requires a smart meter.
As Marty explained, by shifting electricity consumption away from peak hours, it reduces the need for new capacity in the electricity network.
Many people on Anarchist Mountain are retired and therefore are more flexible in when they can use electricity, he said.
The petition can be found at: http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/bcuc-must-end-its-discriminatory-electricity-pricing-against-rural-customers.html.
RICHARD McGUIRE
Osoyoos Times
