The claim of victory!

We're halfway there!

As Danny Williams, and now Lorraine Michael said, "We got it!"

Sounds familiar, right?

Today, after being in the budget lock-down, and finding out that the tax had been removed, at least on a provincial level, I had to breathe a sigh of relief that the mission was halfway there.

Why?

Because in today's budget "We got it!" too...

As of October, the provincial portion of the HST will no longer be collected from your heat bill. It was a long, hard haul to this payday, but I am proud to say that the petition drive provincially is now cancelled and we'll start to work on getting that 5 percent removed from heat on a federal level.

Thanks to everyone who participated, especially those who remember signing the petition from our consumer group, and working for the group, all those years ago as well.

"We got it!"....

Never let a dream die, folks!

To add to today's victory for consumers here, there will still be a rebate program for those who need it most; those who will still find it hard to make ends meet. That's the part that Lorraine Michael worked so hard on to maintain, so, a big thanks to her for that!

I'll be back later tonight with another update on where prices will be going for this week's price change.

Regards,

George

Six days now reporting...

Little change expected in predictions

Six days are now in and the data has only changed slightly. Numbers are still showing a decrease for stove oils and an increase to gasoline pricing Wednesday night in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Heating oils and diesels may go the same way as stove oils but the last couple of adjustments showed heating oils increasing moreso than stove oils. That could translate into little change in the heating oil or diesel price.

Stove oils now show an expected decline of 1.46 cents a litre from yesterdays 1.55. Gasoline is showing a steady 3.7 up on a litre for Wednesday...

As an afterthought, I do an awful lot of thinking while I'm at this...

If 1) it's possible for heating and stove oil product to become so expensive that Big Oil just may ruin its own market for the commodity, and

2) We find that people can't keep themselves warm as a result of heating oils being unaffordable and people want to make the switch to electricity, then

3) Obviously we're going to presure our own sources of energy like electricity as the most beneficial next to wood some might say, then we have another problem developing for the short-term future, and here it is...

To me there may be trouble down the line for our supply of electricity, particularly on the island portion of the province. The question has to be asked about the supply-demand balance of electricity if we find a lot of people are going to switch from oil-based products to electricity.

With those thoughts in mind, here's a few questions for you all to ponder...

1)Do we have the capacity on the island portion to handle the increased demand in electricity if people/consumers switch?

2) Why haven't we heard of Labrador residents being covered in the provincial energy plan, particularly on the coast in areas that face electricity generated by diesel generation?

3) Natural gas is being eyed closely as an alternate source of energy again in the United States as heating oil pricing has skyrocketed. Does our government still have plans to ship out our natural gas to places far away rather than supply our own people with it first?

4) If more people are going to fall back on wood, what is the government going to do as regards to placing some constraints on wood harvesting for "personal consumption"?

5) How about forest replantation/silviculture programs for the long term?

I could go on but, I'll leave it at that for now...

regards,

george

Rate increase coming from Hydro
Government should absorb any further electricity charges to consumers

Media release

Conception Bay South, NL, April 17, 2008- Consumers in this province should not have to face the heavy financial burden being placed on them with the prospects of higher electricity bills in the coming weeks.

“Consumers in Newfoundland and Labrador are facing a double whammy in higher electricity charges at the same time as getting hit with higher heating and stove oil pricing. To be hit with these costs and get hit with higher electricity costs as a result of higher crude oil pricing seems to be a little asinine in the least, knowing that the province is making huge royalties from offshore oil,” said George Murphy, group researcher with the Consumer Group for Fair Gas Prices.

“Government should take immediate steps to allow Hydro to absorb the higher crude acquisition costs and insulate the Newfoundland and Labrador consumer from these costs. With close to a billion dollars in the treasury from oil royalties this year, it is entirely within the realm of government to do this. The Newfoundland and Labrador consumer owns Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro and should be able to get government to call the shot on this latest increase on their behalf. This time, the government can say ‘no’.

“Labrador residents particularly will be hard hit knowing that the Labrador winter is longer and colder. Electricity users along coastal Labrador, where electricity is generated by diesel, will be particularly hard hit. Government should do the right thing and prevent consumers from paying more as a result of something they have the power to help us avoid. The government should also be taking the concrete steps in getting coastal regions of Labrador wired into the provincial energy plan thusly removing them from wild swings in pricing caused by oil-generation of electricity.”

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For more information, contact;

George Murphy
Group researcher/Member
Consumer Group for Fair Gas Prices
gasprices@hotmail.com