Ontario Peak Electricity Prices Rise 8.7% November 1st 2015, 25% Year on Year, 29.6% in 18 Months

This Global News article reports on the price rises in electricity that occur at the start of November:

"Under the new rules, off-peak hours will increase 0.3 cents to 8.3 cents per kWh, mid-peak hours will increase 0.6 cents to 12.8 cents per kWh and on-peak hours will increase 1.4 cents to 17.5 cents per kWh."

Curiously they can't be bothered to say what the percentage increases are. Peak time prices are actually rising 8.7%, which is quite massive considering that Ontario's inflation is between 1% and 2% and that the price increase follows the one in May, thus it is a 8.7% increase in only six months. Mid-peak prices increased by 4.9% and off-peak prices increased by 3.75%.

Perhaps more curiously the article couldn't be bother to figure out what the year on year increases were. I enumerated the recent price increases in electricity in Ontario in this post. The year on year increase in peak pricing in Ontario for November 1st will be  3.5 cents from 14 to 17.5 cents. That's a 25% year on year increase which obviously is way above inflation. For mid-peak, the increase is 1.4 cents, from 11.4 cents to 12.8 cents, a 12.2% increase. For off-peak pricing, the increase  is 0.6 cents from 7.7 to 8.3 cents, a 7.8% increase year over year. 

So it would seem the Liberal government of Kathleen Wynne is trying to increase prices of peak electricity relative to off-peak, trying to shift consumption to off peak periods (between 7 pm and 7 am during the November to April time period). 

However that's not all. What about the increase over 18 months? On peak pricing increased from 13.5 cents to 17.5 cents, a 4 cent increase or a 29.6% increase over 18 months. Mid-peak prices increased 1.2 cents from 11.2 cents to 12.8 cents or a 14.3% over 18 months. Off-peak pricing increased from 7.5 cents to 8.3 cents, a 0.8 cents increase over 18 months, or 9.4% in percentage terms.

Why the media can't be bothered to go back and look at the increases beyond just the most immediate is somewhat surprising to me. I'm not sure if the reporters are lazy or they are complicit with government and just don't want people to be aware. Probably lazy. One of these days I'll go back and look farther back at electricity price increases in Ontario over the past five years as I'm sure the chart would be interesting.