Ken Lewenza Jr. WUC Board, City Councillor
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A few posts ago we examined a local billing experiment about Windsor's ever so compassionate and caring hydro and water provider. For several months a local resident usurped zero hydro electricity and zero water. Consistently the bill from Enwin was over $50.00 per month despite this miserly consumption. The bills were packed with penalties, strange fees and even sewer charges which is odd because if no water was consumed then none would leave in the drain pipes. Well...The experiment continues. Still no water is being consumed and still no hydro is being consumed and still no sewage leaves the premise. Here is the latest hydro bill juxtaposed against the one we examined earlier: 
This is the bill we examined a few weeks ago.
This is the most current bill
In the span of one month we have gone from $50 some odd dollars to $89.83! One would think
that after Councillor Lewenza's admission that the billing practices of Enwin might need a bit of re-jigging that this kind of "power pricing" would be at least kept in check. There continues to be no rhyme or
reason to the WUC's billing practices. Once again the bill is spiked with all kinds of curious surcharges
and fees. It makes one totally anxious for the HST to kick in doesn't it?
So here dear readers is another very real election issue that has to be dealt with. Any politician; incumbent or not has to embrace it or he/she is not worth their salt. What say you?
4 comments:
I cannot explain why a zero usage invoice would rise from $50 to over $80. It is beyond comprehension even though the charges are "fixed", meaning they would be invoiced regardless of usage. Most of the charges are for delivering the utility to the property, whether you decide to use it or not.
If I were a cynical type, I would say that the Utilities need all the money they can get in order to pay their $4 million dividend, errr tax, to the city.
The Hydro and Water collection charges are levied because the individual did not pay their bill. In lieu of disconnecting services, a charge is levied.
This could explain the "rise." You're not comparing apples to apples here.
To anonymous:
Maybe so. but the bill did get paid as it has for several months even though no services were used. This account was first credited for $7.15. Then a hydro collection charge of $30.00 was applied and on top of that a late payment charge of $2.35. Does that seem logical or right to you? How do you explain the fixed meter charge of $16.84? A good guess would be that hydro meters are worth a couple of hundred dollars max and they live with the home for a long long time. This charge suggests that it pays for itself in one year. What about the water main replacement levy of $7.58? If thats how they ammortize new water mains then why do they tell us that the over 100% surcharge that they have added to Windsor's hydro and water bills over the last two years is to replace aging infrastructure? Isn't this like double dipping? And the waste water charges which are a relatively new add-on. Aren't they intended for drain maintenance and replacement? Please give us a break. Figuratively and literally. How much of this stuff do you want us to swallow? It looks like they are looking for any and all excuses to make money. Maybe LOS has it right. They are funding a municipal play kitty. Yes, this has to be an election issue.
Now that Enwin has been given the position of tax collector for the City of Windsor ALL residents are paying property taxes. And no need to hire tax collectors, just withhold essential services like heat & water from the population.
Prior to this only property OWNERS paid property taxes and renters paid indirectly through rent payments. Now renters pay through rent paid, owners through property taxes paid, AND all of us through Enwin.
No wonder the mayor could slide his right hand man, Mike Dueben, over into the Enwin organization. Plenty of room for manoeuvring there.
Watch for more of this leveraging of government power through outsourcing of further essential needs like garbage, childcare & by-law enforcement.
Municipal government the bad guy? No, those mean ol' collection services at the private companies are the bad guy. Government takes the credit for "savings" and avoids all responsibility for the harm to residents.
The whipping that Ontario Works recipients have been taking from Enwin is even more preposterous than average resident. Guestimate would be that over half a million dollars per month is sent to Enwin with 15% being arrears, penalties & deposits. MONTHLY!
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