Desperately Seeking Typical

By Gabe Maggio

(WINDSOR, ON) – If you are wondering why your EnWin bill is so high, here is a bit of insight for your consideration.

Having read and researched much of the goings on at Fortress EnWin, the other night I decided to attend the EnWin informational meeting and really didn’t discover much, other than what is already posted on EnWin’s website. But one thing stuck with me which Eddie Francis continually repeated.

It was odd that he kept saying the same thing a few times over. For me, when someone does that, the bells and whistles go off. So I decided to investigate.

Mayor Francis repeated that if you are a “typical” residential EnWin customer then the Delivery Line Item of the electrical portion of your bill should be about 21% of your total electrical costs.

Really?

What the heck is a “typical” EnWin customer? Let’s find out.

This weekend I examined over twenty EnWin bills from different customers and looked specifically at the level of kilowatt hour usage, the total electrical costs, and the ratio of the Delivery Line charges. In a nutshell, struggling and working families are subsidizing the rich.

Those that conserve energy are paying an unfair share compared to the those who are running lights all day without a moment’s thought.

Let me explain.

If you are the type to pay little for electricity because you are trying to keep your costs down and within budget, or you are currently trying to cut down on your usage, then you are not considered a “typical” customer. In fact, you are paying more , or at least are paying a much higher percentage for Delivery than a customer who uses much more electricity than you do.

On the low end, if the electricity portion of your EnWin bill indicates you have used 340 kilowatt hours, for example, your total bill would be about $65. Your resulting delivery charge would be around $24, thus making up 37% of your bill, not the 21% repeated by Francis. So, a low energy user is not a typical customer.

On the higher end, if you use a lot of electricity, consuming 3,200 kilowatt hours, then your total bill would be about $510 and you would pay $130 for delivery, or approximately 25% of your bill. This too is not a typical customer, but it is much closer.

It is interesting that even an invoice of $510 is still not a typical customer as the $130 delivery charges still doesn’t amount to 21%. I guess, then, you have to pay more and use more to be a typical customer if, in fact, the typical customer actually exists.

Hang on. I have to show you something else I discovered.

I did a little digging into my 2011 EnWin bills that I had kicking around.

On one invoice the total electrical cost was only $46.39 as I used just 201 kwh of electricity. The delivery charge was $34.99 accounting for over 75% of my total bill. This threw me off kilter.

I was again confused.

How could it be when it was not even close to 21%. In fact, it is outrageous.

I understand that within the Delivery line there is a Fixed Customer Charge of about $11, and the other items are variable. But even if the Fixed Customer Charge was not factored into the calculation the delivery line would still account for 50% of the bill.

I don’t get it. It doesn’t add up.

Those who conserve are subsidizing those that don’t. Those who budget because they can’t afford high bills, like seniors on fixed incomes, are paying more for delivery than those who leave the lights on.

When EnWin and the mayor state 21% they  are adamant.  They can’t come back now and say they mean something else. If they were to do that, I am ready for them.

On the EnWin website, where they discuss this 21%, it correspondingly states that 79% of your electrical dollars, “go to Toronto to cover the costs of transmission, regulations, debt retirement, and taxes.”

EnWin also states that the typical residential customer has paid about $32 a month, for the EnWin portion of the bill, since 2006. When I really thought about this, in light of all the all numbers, the light went on.

Eureka.

EnWin just defined the typical customer: an electricity user who pays about $32 a month for “delivery”.

Back to the drawing board I went.

If the typical EnWin customer falls within a $32-33 dollar range, then I had my first clue. So, I then started comparing actual bills, submitted by residential readers. There were some interesting findings.

1. Mayor Francis and EnWin states that the typical person pays 21% for the delivery line, which is EnWin’s portion of the total bill.
2. EnWin states that the typical customer has paid $32 per month for the EnWin portion of the bill since 2006.

These two points are contradictory.

If a user is paying $32-33 per month for delivery, then the EnWin portion of the bill would have to be around over 35% (2013) of the total invoice for over 430 kwh, not 21% as they state.

In 2012, a user paying $33 for the EnWin portion (Delivery) would total $61, using only 252 kilowatt hours of electricity. That would make delivery 54% of the bill. That is, surely, a significant difference from the 21% and obviously not a typical customer.

No one would be complaining if their bill was, on average, only $61.

In 2013, the $32-33 dollar “typical” customer would have a total electric bill of just over $75, use about 425 kilowatt hours of electricity, and pay about 35 per cent of the bill in “Delivery”.

Again this does not make sense as the “typical” customer, paying 21% in Delivery, would in fact have to be using well over 8,000 kilowatt hours.

To test the math I plugged 8,000 kwh into the OEB’s Online Electricity Calculator and could only get the numbers down to about 23.5%, and that included HST in the calculation. Removing the HST from the Delivery line would account for a greater portion of the bill.

Again, something isn’t right. It all doesn’t add up and doesn’t make sense. And this is typical.

The Delivery line is made up of two charges: distribution and transmission. Some may argue that the transmission charges are not controlled by EnWin. They may say that the OEB decides on the charge and benefit from the generated revenues. This is not true.

EnWin sets the Transmission rates and applies for approval from the OEB. EnWin also retains the revenues from the Transmission charges. And the entire Delivery line is contrived by EnWin and the energy distributor reaps the windfall, as I have described.

Not even EnWin can keep their facts straight on what they consider a typical customer. It’s no wonder it is a closed corporation and we can’t get a value-for-money audit.

Stay tuned for a developing story.

Gabe Maggio is a candidate for Ward 3 in the 2014 Municipal Election in Windsor.