Arriving at a trickle, but present nonetheless, individuals have joined in on a protest of power rate hikes outside the Public Utilities Board (PUB) in St. John’s.
For every individual present, running less than 20 since the 10 a.m. start, there are many more passing drivers honking in support.
Drivers are responding to signs like the one held by Lori Best, who said she’s able to manage electricity rate hikes on the table so far, using a wood stove as her main source of heat, but came out because not everyone can say the same.
After a power bill increase July 1, others are on the way for next year and 2019, when the cost of the Muskrat Falls hydroelectric project will be front and centre.
“It’s coming so often that people in Newfoundland and Labrador are not going to be able to keep up with the pace of taxation and everything else,” Best said. “It’s way too much.”
Others spoke to the fear associated with living on fixed incomes and seeing these bills on the horizon.
RELATED LINK:
Petition launched to push people’s buttons on N.L. power rate concerns
Others still were already challenged by the cost of living, making the expected increases in power costs a threat.
“If it wasn’t for The Gathering Place, I wouldn’t be eating at all. I have absolutely nothing in my fridge and it’s been empty and turned off for over a year,” said Roger Bouey, who said he expects people to have issues with maintaining housing if rates go up to where they have been forecast without a great deal of rate mitigation.
Already struggling to pay for medications, he said he sees himself homeless and begging downtown in two years’ time.
Organizer Keith Fillier said he’d like to finally see what the government’s plan is for keeping rates down in the face of the Muskrat Falls hydro project costs.
He said he’s heard a lot of public discussion about what the people of the province can pay, but always about individual ratepayers.
He had a message for the Liberal government: “If they’re listening, what are they doing about it?”
Protesters have walked back and forth in front of the Prince Charles Building in Torbay Road, suggesting people will be leaving in greater numbers in the uncertainty and fear of unmanageable power prices.
The PUB office is also the office for MP Nick Whelan, who spent time speaking with protesters at the line.
“I think it’s pretty obvious from the demonstration here today that people are pretty concerned about a six per cent increase in power rates,” he said, speaking to a near-term rate review. “The PUB is authorized to make the determination on whether or not they’re going to allow the rate increase, and I think it’s appropriate that they have that independent right to do so.”
Whelan also said he was glad the public has Consumer Advocate Dennis Browne, to give them a voice inside the ongoing rate hearing and those expected in future.
