The high cost of electricity for Niagara Falls residents

It's said that a picture is worth a thousand words. Sorry, none of my photos today, but many more words than usual. You can just skip today if you're the type who prefers photos ... I'll never know!

When we house sit, we try to be respectful of the cost of utilities. We do it at our home, so we feel it's even more important to do it when someone else is paying the bill.

In Niagara Falls, we have a "time of day" system, where there are three price tiers. You can see the details in the image below. Bottom line is the lowest-cost electricity is from 7 pm to 7 am on weekdays and all day on weekends.

When we're at home we routinely do our laundry on the weekends, and run the dishwasher in the evenings. It gives us significant savings.

We hadn't asked the homeowners here in British Columbia about it, so I went online to check. The system in British Columbia has a different price structure, where you pay a lower price up to a certain level of monthly usage, and after that pay a higher cost. A different approach, but still one attempting to give an incentive to those who conserve.

Here's where the story takes a turn: the cost comparison between Niagara Falls, Ontario, and Victoria, BC.

Niagara Falls:

Lowest cost - 8.7 cents

Mid-cost - 13.2 cents

High cost - 18 cents

Keep in mind that you can't avoid some at high cost. For example, it's not practical to unplug our fridge during the high-cost periods.

Victoria, BC:

For the first 1350 units in a 2-month period, the cost is 8.29 cents. After that, it's 12.43 cents. It doesn't go any higher.

At our home, we averaged 1022 units in a 2-month period last year, so by BC prices we'd effectively pay 8.29 cents for all our usage, whereas by Niagara Falls prices, it ranges from 8.7 cents to a high of 18.0 cents.

Do I need to remind anyone what Niagara Falls is famous for? Water, and lots of it. Underneath the city of Niagara Falls is a labyrinth of tunnels redirecting water from the falls to make electricity. The newest tunnel opened in 2013 and it alone has the capacity to  provide 160,000 homes with electricity.

So my question is ... why are the people of Niagara Falls paying more for hydro than those in British Columbia? It just doesn't seem right to me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Location: Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

Weather: High of 18ºC (64ºF), low of 14ºC (57ºF)