P.E.I. man refuses to pay his power bill until Maritime Electric can explain why it's so high
CBC
Many P.E.I. residents have taken to social media in recent weeks to raise questions about what they consider inexplicably high power bills from Maritime Electric.
Brackley resident Kirk Harnish has been facing the threat of Maritime Electric turning his power off because he hasn't paid his bill for the past two months. He's convinced it's not accurate.
"The last little while, they're getting just a little bit beyond. You can't manage with electric bills like this," he said.
"My bills were probably maximum around $300 a year ago and now they're $400, $600 and more."
Harnish said his power-using habits have stayed exactly the same over the past year, and he heats his home entirely with wood. Yet his bills for December and January were $200 to $300 more than he expected — and nearly double what they were during those months one year ago.
Harnish called Maritime Electric to question whether there's a problem with the meter that records his electricity usage, but he hasn't gotten any answers.
"All I want is some satisfaction to see what's going on here, why my light bill is so high," he said. "I don't mind paying the bill if you know it's true, or you can get some satisfaction if you know something is going wrong."
Dozens of other Islanders have raised similar concerns on social media this winter, as well as through emails to CBC News.
Meanwhile, people in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick are also complaining about their high power bills. The New Brunswick government has actually asked NB Power to conduct an independent audit after widespread complaints from customers.
Donna Glass lives in Morell, but moves to British Columbia during the winter months.
Each winter, she turns her electric heat way down in her P.E.I. home while she is gone. This year, Glass said, she unplugged even more appliances than in years past.
Even so, her Maritime Electric bill jumped from about $400 last January to $550 this January.
"I have less things plugged in, and I know it's been a little bit colder in P.E.I. for the month of January, but I'm still just in shock that it's $552," Glass said.
"If you're paying a mortgage and other bills, how can people afford this?"
Another busy construction season has come to an end in London, and the city is already looking ahead to next spring when a slew of new projects are expected to begin.
Prime Minister Mark Carney has begun to lay out publicly what he sees as boundaries when dealing with China, as his government wades into a new relationship with the economic giant.
Ferry crossings are cancelled and over a thousand households are left without power Saturday morning, due to high winds and severe weather conditions.
Tens of thousands of Nova Scotia Power customers are waking up without power on Saturday morning after high winds and rain hit the province on Friday night.
Statistics Canada is reporting a population decrease last quarter for New Brunswick — its largest quarterly decline since the 1970s, according to an economic development consultant.
Residents clapped, danced, sang and cried in the Anishinaabe community of Kitcisakik this week when the lights were finally turned on for the first time.
A man is suing three members of a Winnipeg family and a real estate broker he alleges used his intellectual disability to financially exploit him through property deals in Canada and India, leaving him out hundreds of thousands of dollars.
When Stephanie Gamble watched her mother model the first dress she made, smiling wide and walking an imaginary runway, she knew that was what she wanted to keep doing in her life.
'Tis the season for cuddling on the couch with a cup of hot chocolate and watching holiday movies. And for people in B.C.'s Interior, that can increasingly mean seeing their home communities on display.
Every year, snowy owls spread their wings and migrate down to the Prairies, where they enjoy access to plenty of rodent prey in vast open spaces.
This month has been a busy stretch at the Upper Room Food Bank in Charlottetown.
N.W.T. Education Minister Caitlin Cleveland says she has received the final report from an independent investigation into education bodies in the Dehcho region.
P.E.I.’s auditor general says he’s concerned and disappointed that the projected deficit has doubled what government initially estimated it would be — and he's urging the province to balance its budget.