Star readers have come to the rescue of a 74-year-old pensioner who was left in the dark and without water after Hydro One pulled the plug last week.

The artist from the Bancroft area who had given up her clothes dryer, cable TV and phone to cut costs, became overwhelmed by a $2,500 debt amid rising monthly bills and stopped paying in May.

Peggy Mills lost power just days after she was approved for new energy-saving appliances through a Hydro One program to help low-income customers reduce their bills.

Among almost a dozen readers who have offered to help, is a former refugee who says no one in Canada should have trouble paying their electricity bill, a retired teacher who generally doesn’t believe in “Band-Aid solutions” and a Toronto public relations firm that wants to do a good deed.

The downtown PR firm, that wishes to remain anonymous, has offered to pay the $2,500 hydro debt for Mills, a mother of four and grandmother of eight.

The former refugee, who fled war-torn Sri Lanka for Canada with his with his parents when he was 6, says he will cover Mills’s hydro bills for six months to help her get back on her feet.

“I don’t think anyone in Canada should struggle with hydro,” said Siva Raamkumar, 27, a jeweller who lives with his parents in North York.

“I’ve done well and I just want to pay if forward,” he said.

A semi-retired father of three who lives in Halton Region has offered to subsidize Mills’s hydro bill “for as long as she wants” so she can live more comfortably.

“I know the generosity of Canadians will see that she gets help in the short term. But once her power is reconnected, I don’t want her to run into trouble again,” said Tony Sandhu, 50, who immigrated from India in 1990.

“My mother is about her age and I wouldn’t want to see this happening to her,” he added.

Jack Puttick of Markham was prompted to send Mills a cheque out of anger that Hydro One was sending her new appliances at the same time it was cutting off her power.

“I’m no millionaire and I don’t like the fact my hydro rates continue to climb like all my fellow Ontarians, but we have to do something,” he said. “To hear people are deciding whether to buy groceries or pay they utilities breaks my heart.”

When the Star contacted Hydro One about Mills’s predicament Tuesday, a spokeswoman said the utility would take a second look at her bill and work with local social service agencies to get her power restored.

Hydro One did not return calls Wednesday for an update.

Mills was astonished by the kindness of Star readers.

“Oh my goodness,” she said from a pay phone near her home in McArthurs Mills. “I think it’s wonderful. But what about all the other people who need help?”

Community worker Jane Kali of North Hastings Community Trust who has been helping Mills is also worried about the hundreds of other residents in the rugged rural area southeast of Algonquin Park who are in arrears and risk losing their power.

“Two more people are being disconnected this week,” Kali said. “The help for Peggy is awesome. But this is a systemic problem that we need to tackle for everyone.”

Bancroft’s only social housing complex switched from a faulty oil-heating system to electric service about seven years ago when hydro costs were low. But now low-income families and seniors living there are paying more for hydro than rent, she said.

“Under equalized billing, the average tenant is paying $350 a month for hydro. These are people on Ontario Works and ODSP,” Kali said, referring to the province’s welfare program for able-bodied and disabled people.

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With local radio and TV now interested in Mills’s story, she wants Hydro One to declare a moratorium on disconnections until a better solution is found to high energy rates in rural areas.

In the meantime, the Ontario Energy Board, the province’s independent energy regulator, says customers having trouble can contact its consumer relations departmentat: 1-877-632-2727, said spokeswoman Karen Evans.

“We are there to mediate disputes,” Evans said. “We know the rules and we can advocate on behalf of the consumer.”

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