Oshawa spent more than $150,000 to keep the street lights on in June of 2015. Of that, only about $3,600 was for power, the rest was delivery, regulatory and debt retirement charges, HST, and a whopping $62,325.42 for “Global Adjustment.”

Oshawa Mayor John Henry is railing against the charge, which the Independent Electricity Systems Operator (IESO) says was implemented in 2005 to cover “the cost for providing both adequate generating capacity and conservation programs for Ontario.”

Henry says no matter what the city does to conserve, they can’t win.

“The challenge for us is the same challenge that you have at home,” says Henry. “No matter what we do, we are not able to lower our energy costs. In fact, they are increasing.”

The streetlights are just one example, which Henry says to multiply by 12 to get a picture of what the impact over the course of a year would be.

“But it’s compounded,” says Henry. “Your hydro bill goes up at home, so you’re paying more. And then the hydro bill goes up at the City of Oshawa, so you’re paying more to support that bill in taxes. And then the hydro bill here at the region goes up because we pump drinking water and sewer into our treatment plants; that goes up to $13.5-million and of course the resident is the one that pays the bills.”

Henry says he is not against “greening” and is in fact all for conservation, but he says he opposes the way it’s paid. He’s been speaking with other municipalities and provincial representatives and urging them to support his suggestion. He’s asking that the fees be removed, in lieu of giving municipalities money back in turn, and allow the businesses and consumers to keep their cash and use it as they see fit. He says the overall economy will benefit by taking it off the back of the ratepayer.

“When you don’t have that $100 a month, what are you doing?” asks Henry. “You’re not spending it. And when we’re not spending it, we’re not creating jobs. And when we’re not creating jobs or product, nobody is buying. So you’re actually destroying the economy by creating a charge that is taking the money out of the economy to do something that should have paid for something another way to begin with.”