When Maryse Gareau and her husband, Chad, bought their 1,200-square-foot home two years ago, they allowed a generous amount for hydro costs in their budget.
Everyone knew that rates were increasing, so they wanted to be ready as they started a new family. Now with two young children, they have already reached the upper limit of their budget.
"We were way under (when we moved in), but just this month, we reached the maximum that we had overestimated for our budget," Maryse Gareau said Monday, at a news conference with NDP Leader Andrea Horwath and Nickel Belt MPP France Gélinas.
That first bill was $228 two years ago, which combined water and hydro. By last month, it had soared to $354, an increase of more than 30 per cent.
"That's just lights and water,” she said. “We even have a gas stove. And we were gone to camp for the summer ...We conserve as much as we can, but as a young family, we have a lot of laundry."
“They're already reaching what they had thought would be their maximum budget for electricity costs," Horwath said. "That's a frightening thing for a young, growing family."
Gélinas said her office gets at least three calls a day from people struggling to pay their hydro bills.
"And when we have our caucus meetings, our other MPPs are saying that as well,” Horwath added. “I've visited families now in Kitchener, Hamilton, Niagara Falls, and now here in Sudbury. It's happening everywhere. And if we're hearing it, then certainly the Liberal MPPs are hearing it, as well."
Gélinas said she recently travelled to different parts of Nickel Belt and heard the same refrain everywhere she went: people can't afford electricity costs. People hardest hit are young families just starting out and seniors on fixed incomes, she said.
While the governing Liberals have announced different programs to help, Gélinas said most don't qualify.
"You would think my riding is Northern, but all people in Sudbury do not qualify as a Northern area, and neither do most of the people in Nickel Belt," she said.
"So for the most part, people are stuck."
Horwath said people in Ontario are deeply worried and the province needs to step in.
"There needs to be some real changes if families are going to be able to have a good, secure quality of life."
Sudbury MPP and Energy Minister Glenn Thibeault has to be the one to act for the good of his constituents and everyone across the province, she said.
"He's got the responsibility to turn things around for the people of Ontario,” Horwath said. “That's why we've called on Minister Thibeault and the premier of this province to stop any further sell off of Hydro One and to put people back in the driver's seat when it comes to decisions around our electricity system."
The province has already sold 30 per cent of shares in Hydro One, and plan to sell an additional 30 per cent to fund major infrastructure projects. But long term, Horwath said it will cost ratepayers more.
"The privatization is only going to drive prices up," she said. "That's what happens when you privatize in the electricity system. And if we're not able to pay today, what's going to happen to the next generation? This is not what people voted for."
For her part, Maryse Gareau said she would like to be able to enjoy her home and growing family without the stress that comes with soaring hydro costs.
"I have anxiety around opening that bill and not knowing what's going to come,” she said. “I don't want to live in anxiety like this."
