On PEI if you use less energy per month you pay more per kWh than someone who uses more than you. Residentially we pay 13.96 cents per kWh for the first 2000 kWh and 11.08 cents per kWh for every kWh above 2000 per month.

We could and should reward those who use less and make those who use more pay their fair share. It is the higher consumption users who contribute to the expensive upgrades we require more so than the lower consumption users. Why do we reward the behaviour we would like to mitigate and punish the behaviour we are trying to encourage?

With a simple low cost solution we can change this all around and the best part is that ratepayers overall will not have to pay more, just shift the responsibility for payment onto the source of the expense. Let’s just charge less for the first block of power and more for the second. Simple, low cost, and effective. This is how it is done in Quebec, BC, and many other jurisdictions. We almost bought a 70 million dollar gas fired generator to deal with our growing demand...the potential savings are very real.

Steve Howard is Energy Critic for the Green Party of Prince Edward Island