Smart Meters will have us paying more on our utility bills

BC Hydro to instal 1.8 million smart meter's by 2012

Why “Smart Meters”?  Well everything else aside they are, or shall I say “will be”, a revenue generating gravy train for BC Hydro. 

Here's a comment I posted on a story a couple of weeks ago:

They (BC Hydro) love to tar and paint those with health concerns as the 'tin-foil' hat crowd -- it keeps people distracted for what they are actually headed for. The ultimate goal of the smart meters is to charge us more money for power consumption and usage. We will end up with peak and low time rates ... a minimum charge plus a host of smorgasbord add-on fees.

BC Hydro has been in the news, in unfavorable stories, for month after month.  And what have the stories been about?  There have been numerous stories about smart meters and the possible health dangers, along with BIG proposed rate increases, but for me the stories that have caught my attention are the ones about the mounting and crushing debt that BC Hydro appears to be facing.

What other reason could there be for some of these recent headlines?

• Hydro deferring billions in debt, watchdog says
• Auditor general slams corporation for reporting phantom profits
• BC Hydro users on the hook for $2.2B: auditor general
• BC Hydro customers facing more rate hikes, expert warns
• Utility's bookkeeping methods will hurt development: critic

What other reason could there be for some of these recent stories?

BC Hydro Spend-Today, Pay-Tomorrow Ripped by Auditor General

… BC Hydro is using American-style accounting practices to defer billions of dollars of debt to future years … the government … is forcing BC Hydro further and further into red ink, and it will come back to haunt future rate payers …  BC Hydro is using smoke and mirrors to appear profitable, while actually pushing off costs into the future …

BC Hydro Site "C" dam -- part two

Recently, after receiving some information, I decided to try and find out a bit about the Site “C” dam.  It is taking a while, but now that I am asking things a little more specific, the answers are becoming vaguer – interesting don’t you think.  Read on and you decide ...

Good afternoon...

There has been lots of talk in the media in recent months and years with regards to new hydro projects, possible rate hikes, run of river proposals etc.   I noticed more on the BC Hydro website regarding Site "C" and that the project is now in the Stage 3 -- Environmental and Regulatory Review -- process.

I am wondering if you might be able to help me with a couple of questions?? …. (what follows below is the alternating question / answer sequence)  ….

Dear Alan,

Thank you for your email regarding employment numbers associated with the Site C Clean Energy Project……

BC HYDRO and the Site C Dam



Conceptual design of the proposed
Site C dam on the Peace River

Recently there has been a lot in the news with regards to BC Hydro.  There has been talks about possible rate increases of up to 50% … numerous proposed and coming online Run of River projects … and Hydro looking at existing power streams and ones that were / are on the books.

One of these happens to be the proposed Site C Dam on the Peace River.

I did have some one ask about this, at which point I emailed BC Hydro to make a few inquiries?  My email of March 24^th follows below …

From: Alan Forseth [mailto:alfman55@hotmail.com]
Sent: Thursday, March 24, 2011 4:15 PM
To: Project Team, Site C
Subject: BC Hydro site "C" project

Good afternoon ...

There has been lots of talk in the media in recent months and years with regards to new hydro projects, possible rate hikes, run of river proposals etc.   I noticed more on the BC Hydro website regarding Site "C" and that the project is now in the Stage 3 -- Environmental and Regulatory Review -- process.