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In 2016 the Greater Essex County District School Board used 2.1-million fewer kilowatt-hours than two years ago, but its hydro bill still rose by half a million dollars.

The board used 26.4 million kilowatt-hours at a cost of $4.52 million in 2016 compared to paying $4.038 million for 28.5 million kilowatts in 2014.

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“We have to address this before it becomes a more significant problem,” said trustee Ron LeClair, who requested administration review the board’s hydro costs over the last three years.

“That goes right to operating costs that we have to offset (with money) from somewhere else.

“It does translate into a bottom line adjustment affecting our ability to provide programming and services to students.”

In terms of the average cost per kilowatt-hour, the rate has increased nearly 20 per cent since 2014. Last year the average kilowatt-hour cost the board 0.17 cents.

To help boards deal with rising energy costs, the provincial government boosted funding for electricity by 7.3 per cent in each of 2015 and 2016. However, the increase still left the board with a shortfall of 3.4 per cent in 2015 and 1.9 per cent in 2016.