Nickel Belt MPP France Gélinas, rose in the legislature on April 11 to make a statement regarding Hydro One’s Electricity Support Program which came into effect Jan. 1 this year.
“My constituent Mr. Pete Leduc came into our office when he got a notice from Hydro One, encouraging him to apply for the Ontario Electricity Support Program, which he did. Like most people in Nickel Belt, he had no idea that Hydro One was offering low-income customers a rebate. He found out when his March Hydro One bill came in the mail including a flyer about the program,” said Gélinas.
“It takes six to eight weeks for the people to find out if they qualify; that means this program, which started on January 1, may not be helping my constituents until May or June. This isn’t fair, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Leduc wants his rebate to be retroactive to January 1, and I think that’s right,” the MPP continued.
“Not enough was done to make people aware of this program. We did a search of news stories related to this rebate. There weren’t enough to fill a page and most were related to how complicated the program is, and how little uptake there has been from consumers so far.
Low-income families in Nickel Belt are not scanning Hydro One websites to find discounts. They are too busy trying to make ends meet. I have two questions for the government: Why was a flyer for a program that started in January in our March Hydro One bill? And second, will the government do the right thing and backdate this rebate to January 1 for everyone that applies before the end of April?”
