To the editor:
For those of you who still don’t know that B.C. Hydro with the permission from the BCUC (British Columbia Utility Commission) have very sneakily implemented a Customer Crisis Fund Charge onto our hydro bills to cover the costs to them for people who can’t afford to pay their bill because they are in some sort of a financial crisis.
This is one of the most blatant robberies put into effect by BC Hydro [and the] BCUC.
Nothing was ever sent out to its customers notifying them about this extreme proposal or asking them for their thoughts or opinions on the whole idea.
B.C. Hydro is a supplier of electricity, not a human resources or social services plan and shame on the BCUC for allowing them to put this into effect.
They have just taken it upon themselves to charge the public to cover these costs.
We are senior citizens ourselves and have run into hard times over the years but have always managed to pay our bills.
So we can’t justify having to pay for someone else’s bills when we have enough of our own to deal with.
We are very generous and helping society on the whole but we should be able to choose to whom we give our money to.
As far as we’re concerned this is just another money grab by BC Hydro, BCUC and the Government because they get their 5 per cent worth.
This is like the GST, which was only supposed to be implemented to pay off the deficit but was such a cash cow that it is still there.
Some people will think it isn’t a great amount of money to have to pay but the amount of money that this program will generate is ludicrous.
The goal is to raise around $5.3 million a year. Most of this money will end up in the pockets of the bureaucracy.
It’ll supposedly cost $600,000 to get it up and running, and annual administration costs are expected to be around $900,000 a year.
I see very little actually going to where it’s supposed to go to.
And where do you think the most of it will go?
We are fed up with being taken advantage of.
The amount a month is small but it’s the principle that counts.
If this program is allowed to go forward it will just continuously increase and now we’re stuck with something we don’t want.
Mel and Val Kronebusch
100 Mile House