Enbridge wants to increase heating (gas) by 40%~ cold winter~ give me a break!

[PurpleBunny89]

For those that use natural gas seasonly like we do you can disconnect your services for the summer and only pay a $75 fee. Dependent on how long you generally keep it disconnected you might save more money doing it this way then paying a monthly customer fee for something you don't use.

[walkonby]

anyone else on the equal billing plan? Well it is nice to pay the same amount every month, but with this bad winter and the increase I will be paying a whopper of a bill come June/July! Remember the good old days when you had that June/July bill that was so low, it was almost a free months worth? No more.

[Shwa Girl]

It's cold outside. But the sun is shining. At least we did not need much heat during the day. Saving a bit on that 40% increase, today, at least.

[tjthemanto]

For those that use natural gas seasonly like we do you can disconnect your services for the summer and only pay a $75 fee. Dependent on how long you generally keep it disconnected you might save more money doing it this way then paying a monthly customer fee for something you don't use.

I wish I could do that , I don't really need home heating in spring/summer , but by water heater ( hot water tank ) works on natural gas , so I have to keep the heating on i.e the natural gas pipeline to the water heater.

I think electric water heater is way more expensive than natural gas water hill , from the bill point of view

[tjthemanto]

anyone else on the equal billing plan? Well it is nice to pay the same amount every month, but with this bad winter and the increase I will be paying a whopper of a bill come June/July! Remember the good old days when you had that June/July bill that was so low, it was almost a free months worth? No more.

My neighbour was on it , but they messed up his equal billing big time..so he went back to regular billing ...high bills in winter , small bills in summer.

It took him almost a year to sort out the equal billing ..lot of errors on his bill & mistakes ..they couldn't even do a simple thing right

[PurpleBunny89]

I wish I could do that , I don't really need home heating in spring/summer , but by water heater ( hot water tank ) works on natural gas , so I have to keep the heating on i.e the natural gas pipeline to the water heater.

I think electric water heater is way more expensive than natural gas water hill , from the bill point of view

You are probably right but for those of us that rent we don't really get a choice

I'm not on equal billing, I actually don't really like the idea of it. I like paying for exactly what I use (...plus all the hidden charges) every month. Sure gas is higher for us in the winter and non existent in the summer but we know this so we come to expect it and plan for it. Same goes for hydro, cheap in the fall and winter and more expensive winter and summer. Although this summer we're hoping to not use the A/C much since we are really close to a lake so hopefully it will be cooler.

[Shwa Girl]

sunny and bright today
so we used less heat
so less money to Enbridge.
Ha!

[Shwa Girl]

Good news -- The Ontario Energy Board has told Enbridge that their 1 year increase can't go ahead:

Enbridge natural gas customers have caught a bit of a break from the Ontario Energy Board.
It was already know that gas prices were going up for Enbridge customers because of the harsh and long winter but the OEB has eased the increase to spread it out over 27 months rather than the proposed 12 months.
That could shave about $10 a month off a typical household’s gas bill compared to what the increase otherwise would have been.

[walkonby]

oh thanks Shwa!! I was sure I had heard a snippet of news about this but then figured I must have dreamed it. lol It helps everyone's budget that is for sure.

[tjthemanto]

Good news -- The Ontario Energy Board has told Enbridge that their 1 year increase can't go ahead:

This coming winter bills are going to be a shock for most people , if the winter is just as bad as the previous one

But this is good news as the increase is spread over 27 months

[Shwa Girl]

This coming winter bills are going to be a shock for most people , if the winter is just as bad as the previous one

But this is good news as the increase is spread over 27 months

here's the prediction for winter:

WINTER 2014-15: ABOVE-NORMAL TEMPERATURES, BELOW-NORMAL SNOWFALL & OVERALL PRECIPITATION

[Ciel]

Energy marketing firm supplying gas contract had a rep at the door about two weeks ago. Dad refused to sign anything. Rep's parting words were "ok, we'll put you on variable pricing when your contract ends in ----". Happened to catch part of the conversation when I got upstairs.
Brother still won't get Dad to send a letter about switching back to Union Gas after the gas contract ends in the fall.
Enbridge customers at least get small break on increase if gas is supplied by Enbridge; no break for those customers with Enbridge getting supplied by another supplier.
@walkonby-yes, I remember summer equal billing plan statements almost giving a month for free. Has been a few years since I last saw that on the bill. Gas company decides who gets equal billing plan...
Two hikes in billing plan since start of year. Money is a major stressor at home.

[Shwa Girl]

@walkonby-yes, I remember summer equal billing plan statements almost giving a month for free. Has been a few years since I last saw that on the bill.

Hey.
Thought it was just us

[matrix82]

For those that use natural gas seasonly like we do you can disconnect your services for the summer and only pay a $75 fee. Dependent on how long you generally keep it disconnected you might save more money doing it this way then paying a monthly customer fee for something you don't use.

If I thought we could live without hot water for a few months, I would do this. Our hot water tank is a natural gas boiler :S. It is 5 years old, so once it needs to be replaced after 10 years I may switch to electric, if I haven't already. Too expensive.

[tjthemanto]

Watchout for this , this winter And budget accordingly.

This winter is going to be a bill shocker for most