Gotta love it!

The increases are going to pay for the IPP's and the false prices they have been promised by the government for their power. Should be an open market not a rip off market as it is now.

What else do you expect from the Liberals?

Hey, this is just the start!
There will be more...there always is with these thieves.
We had to know this was coming!
B.C. is dead broke and will be for a long time to come, but they don't have the guts to say that.
They blew it all!

BC Hydro was formed to supply the people of B.C. (WAC Dam/Williston Lake) with cheap reliable power. A B.C. owned corporation. Like BC Rail it's for sale that's why BCTC was formed so the Liberals could export power to the States and get on the world market. Expect your bill to go up way over 33%. Just another of our assets sold off without any input from the owners of the company and that's us, the people of B.C.

Need the Money for upgrades, what a Bull that is, what have they done with all the Money we paid over the Years? Time to take back what is ours before C and friends get it all.

The goverment takes most of the money and spends it elsewhere, not only profits but water taxes. Loads of money going to BCTC management, since BCTC was formed they are building an empire on our nickle. Mainteance at Hydro has been cut back for years and way behind. Just another part of privitization.

Yes the infrastucture is getting old and needs to be upgraded and governments have sucked money out of Hydro so nothing left for upgrades. Also don't forget Hydro is run by the government of the day. But the whole story is not being told by any means. The rate increase is the direct costs forced onto Hydro by the Liberal govenment to pay for the extremely expensive power produced by the private producers. The people involved with the private producers reads like the whos who of the liberal party. These are thirty year expensive contracts that Hydro was forced to sign.

The three lowest cost utilities in North America are in Quebec, Manitoba and soon in the past tense BC.These utilities are all publically owned. I say the Liberals and their friends have been looking at what the rest of North America is paying which is quite a bit higher and drooling at the money to be made. Now as the rates go up and people complain, the Liberals will say look at what the majority of North America is paying while keeping the rates just below the North American average allowing them to say BC's rates are lower.

Folks this is a scam just like the BC Rail deal. Oh yes those bird eating windmills are very expensive power and can only exist under heavy gobernment subsidies along with the rest of private power. Do you like watching your taxes fall into private companies?

This is getting fricking unbelievable!

What? You mean to tell me that things get more expensive as time goes on?

This is completely new information! I have never heard of such a thing!

Time to invest in some solar panels.

OMG. It will get to the point where we won't be able to afford to heat our homes. Specifically folks on a fixed income like seniors. And like always, us ordinary citizens are powerless to do anything about the soaring prices for utilities.
RUEZ is right. The solar industry will be experiencing a huge boom I'm sure. And maybe I will move out to the country and live with wood heat.

get a chain saw and burn all the wood you can to heat up your home.i wonder if my pension will be increased accordingly or
are electricity bills not factored into the equation when they calculate the cost of living.

The first thing people can do is sign the HST petition that is coming out on April 6th. If sufficient signatures are received we can have the HST either recinded, or changed, or we can start a recal petition and get rid of some Politicians.

If we can force the issue with the HST this will show the Government that we are serious about no more increases in taxes, and that they better back off on these Hydro increases.

If we do nothing they win.

time to buy up all the used wood stoves you can find

Palopu is right. Signing the HST Petition is the best first step we can take if we're determined not to be gouged any further by a government that will just keep coming back for more, so long as we allow it to.

There is no need whatsoever for these kinds of obscene rate increases, nor any further taxes. Lets have some proper accounting in government, same as we'd have in any private firm that delivers goods and services to the general public. With a proper Provincial Balance Sheet showing ASSETS, and the annual growth of same, and not just as now, where we're only shown increases in Liabilities, what we're said to "owe", as an excuse for taxing us further.

Can't help thinking back to Paul Nettleton when he was M.L.A. for Prince George Omineca.

He fought a brave but lonely battle to protect BC Hydro (as well as BC Rail) from Gordo's schemes ...

I wonder what Paul Nettleton would say now.

Well said Palopu and socredible,but the fastest way to get rid of this government of self-serving thieves is one damn good general strike.
Shut this province down and keep it down until they blink.
And blink they will by getting rid of Campbell an his inner circle for starters.
We have seen bad government in this province over the years, but nothing like this one.
These guys are just plain crooked and they don't even try to hide it anymore.
Somebody is getting their pockets lined!
And see what else is in the news today about the toxic stink in Prince George that they neglected to mention?
When is enough really enough?
When do people begin to stand up for themselves?

Paul Nettleton would say..."I told you so" BC Mary!
Unfortuntely,nobody was listening.
Did we really think he was making it all up?

Good luck with the general strike, you can't even get half the population to vote.

No argument there MrPG!
And that's exactly how we get to this stage...apathy.
Apathy is something politicians unerstand very well.
They count on it!

Well, I guess Geothermal is not the way to go now. No more saving there.

Its going up one reason because of the money that california hasnt paid us....hundreds of millions of dollars. And Campbell had the gaul to invite Arnold here to run in the torchy relay. The cops should have thrown him in debtor's prison.

Ya do not do anything MrPG because half the population does not even vote. Bla Bla Bla. This seems to be your answer for everything. JUST SIT THERE AT YOUR COMPUTER AND WAIT TO JUMP ON ANYONE THAT WANTS TO DO SOMETHING. Sit there and the REST OF US WHO CARE will continue on. Where the hell is the ignore button here?

The Liberals have mandated Burrard Thermal out of existence. This facility burned natural gas to produce power. Natural gas is one of the cleanest fuels available.

So now the hydro rates rise and wood residue is touted as the fuel of the future. Truck traffic and dust, massive amount of ash, fuel storage and handling, additional labour, larger heating surfaces to allow for fouling, emission requirement of an ESP, and on and on. Anyone considering a new wood burning power generating facility needs a 25 year purchase agreement from BC Hydro and a staring rate of $140.00 to $160.00 per megawatt. The consumer today pays under $80.00 a megawatt. Get ready for big increases.

Burning biomass is is certainly a step backwards. Any 50 year old combustion manual details what the Liberals think is cutting edge technology today.

How do you shut government down Andy?

CaringSoul, please don't read my comments if you can't deal with them.

I'm sorry I don't live in fantasyland, and that I have to tell it like it is and that it bothers you so much.

Keep those blinders on!

With a damn good GENERAL STRIKE CaringSoul!
Shut the province down and keep it down until they scream uncle!
If we did it,this would be OVER, without question and it wouldn't take very long!
Odd how we can find more reasons NOT to do it than to just get at it?
We have the power...we just don't use it.
Maybe we have all forgotten how?
WE are the government, and THEY are "elected representatives".
And while the HST petition is better than nothing at all,we have seen the results of recall legislation.
It is designed to fail, which is interesting considering it was created by politicians.
Yes,by all means...sign the petition,but I somehow doubt it will work.

We can't get half the eligible voters out and you want to coordinate a general strike during the worst economic climate in our lifetime?

IF you could do that, you would be the next premier.

Any other PRACTICAL solutions?

Actually Loki...eventually the general population WILL get mad enough to DO something!
And a general strike IS a practical solution,assuming of course we WANT to do something.
I really wonder about that.

We have had a general strike before and it did work, especially when the ferry workers joined and the people in Victoria could not get on or off the Island.

I don't remember any general strike in BC in my 35 years here. Of course in my early years I was oblivious to politics.

If you can a make a go of it, kudos.

If you can get it going, I will support it.

"the people in Victoria could not get on or off the Island."
A E R O P L A N E
Moving people and goods over land and sea for over a century.
If the reference is to the politicians, it would be on the taxpayers dime.

And here I thought BC Hydro was an independent entity with oversight by the government.

The province of Vancouver love Campbell, good luck with a general strike, but if it happens I'll support it.

9% increase, eh? How will that increase be factored into our Consumer Price Index? Will that percentage increase be null and void when it comes time to figure out our national inflation rate for the year? Figures lie. Liars figure. We need a revolution. But not tomorrow. I have to go to work.

In actual fact this petition idea will work. It requires Signatures of 10% of the registered voters in 87 ridings. This means approx 5000 signatures in each riding. All 87 ridings must have the required number of signatures.

The thing to keep in mind is that if they get in excess of 450,000 signatures this sends a huge message to the Government. The Government (through BC Elections) then has to deal with the petition.

They have to either refer the petition legislation to a referendum which allows every registered voter in BC to vote on it., or they would have to vote the petition down in the legislature. Either way it puts them in an untenable position, because the spot light will be on them. They cannot hide behind smoke and mirrors.

If they vote the petition down, then the next step is to start a recall campaign against a certain number of MLA's probably those is ridings that the Liberals have little support. This would then threaten their majority, and again they would be very nervous.

Last but not least we can keep the pressure on the Government right up to and including the next election. This is the last thing they want. We can also keep the Hydro issue alive at the same time, which they hope will die out right away.

Silence is acceptance. Get out and volunteer to collect signatures, or at the very least get yourself and you freinds to sign the petition.

Remember that you have to be a registered voter to sign. This is a legal document, not your normal run of the mill petition. If you are not registered to vote then you should go to Elections BC on line and register, before the April 6th deadline.

Bill Vanderzalm will be in Prince George next week to drum up support for this petition. He will speak at a rally set for Friday March 12th at Weldwood Theatre (7-238) UNBC 7PM start.

This is an opportunity to do more than just complain. Time to get up, and do something.

Where can I volunteer?

Andy. Go to fightHST.com on the internet and you will be able to make contact and get information on who is running the campaign in Prince George. Also attend the Rally at the University on Friday March 12th. 7pm (7-238) Volunteers must be registered with Elections BC before April 6th.