Hydro One is seeking permission to use prepaid meters, a move critics say will only hurt low-income customers.In a lengthy proposal to the Ontario Energy Board regarding rate increases, Hydro One includes a pitch “to install prepayment meters, which require the customer to pay first before they get any electricity,” said New Democrat MPP Peter Tabuns (Toronto-Danforth).“Everywhere that prepayment meters have been used, they have hurt struggling families,” said Tabuns, his party’s energy critic, demanding the government ban them, as has happened in the United Kingdom.Hydro One executives and Energy Minister Glenn Thibeault insist the meters, if approved, would be optional.The energy board, Thibeault told reporters, is mandated to “have the ratepayers’ best interests in mind, and so we leave the decisions, when it comes to rate applications, to the OEB.”Regardless of the type of meter, no one will be cut off from electricity in the winter, he added.Hydro One’s proposal to the OEB states that “one method of enabling customer control of their electricity consumptions, while in arrears condition, and minimizing Hydro One Network’s financial risk, is through the use of prepaid meters. Prepaid meters are a type of energy meter that requires users to pay for energy before using it. This is done via a smartcard, token or key that can be ‘topped up’ at a corner shop, via a smartphone application or online. “For customers who are high collection risk, the financial risk will be minimized by rolling out this type of meter. With a prepaid meter, electricity is paid upfront. Once the prepaid amount is used up, power is cut-off until the customer is able to load the meter with more credits.”Ferio Pugliese, Hydro One’s executive vice-president of customer care and corporate affairs, said “absolutely, this will not be forced” on customers and that it is simply providing th ...
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