Hydro-Quebec is really importantย to most Quebecers. Well yeah, they provide us with power. And when they decide to do something funky with the pricing, it affects everyone.ย
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They've done this before, and we weren't happy then. But they've decided once more to try and change up their rates in an effort to get more money out of consumers. At least, this time, it seems as if they have a morally sound motive, rather than simply an economic one.
Basically, what they want to doย is increase their prices during the peak period. So depending on the time of day, your Hydro-Quebec rates will be different. Whatever happened to just having the same rate for electricity?ย
Hydro-Quebec wants to beย able to use a variable rate and have a higher price for electricity during peak periods. And when the demand is lower, the rates will be too. Now that seems great for them, and terrible for us. When we actually want and need to use their services it will cost us more than when we don't need it.
This would cause higher pricesย in the morning and in the evening, whereas during the day and at night when most people aren't at home or awake, the prices will go down.
They are currently asking for permissionย to do this. It needs to be approved by the Energy Board before they can go through with it. Thank goodness. I'm hoping this gets denied. We don't need to be paying any more money.
@martin___photographyembedded via ย
But wait, there's actually somethingย interesting about this. Apparently, we will be able to choose whether or not we want to participate in this new program. Hydro-Quebec is saying that if we want to stay at the same prices, we will have that option available to us.
They're starting this new initiativeย because they are trying to encourage people to consume less energy. Naturally, the demand for electricity is highest in the winter months and they've deduced that with an increased rating during critical hours, people may be discouraged from consuming power. Well, at least that's something I can get behind.