If you live in this city and
have to pay your own gas, hydro, and electric bill, chances are you know how
expensive showering and heating your home can be. Living with 5 people in the
house can be difficult, especially when the only time you’re allowed to bathe
is before 7am or after 7pm, both in which are not necessarily convenient times
for a university schedule. According to Dewees (2012), the average electricity
bill in 2010 was about $150.00, with a net increase of about $60.00 in the past
ten years. There are no reliable sources for the average utility bill in
Ontario, but as I was browsing around message boards, I discovered that on
average, the utility bill was anywhere from $300-$500! Considering a person who
works minimum wage, 20 hours a week, they will only make around $820 a month,
which leaves very little for other living expenses.
In many family homes, people
have to rely on soup kitchens and food banks to get the nourishment they need,
as paying the bills for the home takes all the money in their paycheck.
According to a CBC article (2012), over 400,000 Ontarians are using food banks every month, and more than a third are
children. Over 17,000 households have used these food banks for the first time
this year. They also state that the largest groups of food bank users are:
·
Single parent households
·
Children under 18
·
Seniors or people on a fixed income
·
The recently unemployed
·
University graduates having trouble finding work
So why are so many people
having trouble paying their bills? It may be due to the fact that PUC has
initiated a public program using so-called “smart meters.” The goal of these
smart meters was to “provide incentive to shift electricity usage to non-peak
hours of the day,” which we call know is a load of garbage, as people will
still have to use certain things at certain times of the day. This initiative
is to just increase their revenue by an obnoxious amount, as in their third
quarter, PUC stated a revenue of over $6 million (Curran, 2012).
From a social democratic
ideology, I find it sickening that a company can make that much money off of
roughly 75,000 people. From this lens, the people that are unable to pay their
bills should have equal chance in public and social welfare, so that they will
be efficient and can contribute more to the free market economy. Either
electricity rates need to be cheaper, or minimum wage needs to go up.
References
CBC News. (2012). Ontario
food bank use hits all time high, report says. Retrieved from: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2012/12/03/food-banks.html
Curran, H.J.B. (2012). Third Quarter Shareholder Report 2012. Retrieved from: http://www.ssmpuc.com/documents/assets/uploads/files/en/thirdquartershareholderreport30october2012.pdf
Dewees, D.N. (2012). What is
Happening to Ontario Electricity Prices? Retrieved from: www.sustainableprosperity.ca/dl764
-Spencer Edgar
As a student, this is frustrating. Most of us are increasing our dept by attending college and university with rising tuition costs, and then to have to take out an even larger loan or take on more hours at work, therefore decreasing available study time, just to be able to stay warm. I find it very stressful when searching for an apartment to really have to consider if it's not all inclusive then to also look at the size of the apartment, whether there are new windows and doors, and how new the appliances are, to name a few ways of reducing the bill. Most places I have seen here do not meet this criteria, and the ones that do charge a ridiculous amount, which I assume is due to the cost of PUC.
ReplyDeleteGood topic, I feel that many people in different stages of life can relate and understand.
-Denise
WOW! I never knew you got charged more for using the shower or to do your laundry at certain times of the day. That makes me sick... I don't understand why they do this there is really no point to it. Your are 100% right, no one why people are in poverty because stupid things like this that make absolutely no sense are put in place. My mom always tells me to turn the lights off because one time we had a really high PUC bill. I never understood but no wonder why she gets mad if she has to pay $500 for one month compared to the $150 10 years ago. It's really sad that our world has come to this and it just makes so much more sense why so many people are using these food banks.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with the previous comment, this is a great post because it does contribute to different stages and everyone in life.
By: Hunter
The cost of PUC today is just ridiculous, the cost of living today is hard enough. I pay PUC and i,m watching for leaving the lights on and having to rewash clothes in my household in they are left in there over night. They did offer people in social housing to do an assessment this past month that if you qualify they will purchase energy saving appliances, light bulbs, insulated plastic window coverings etc.
ReplyDeleteThanks Allison