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“I am a Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship in my own way, free to stand for what I think right, free to oppose what I believe wrong, or free to choose those who shall govern my country. This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and all mankind.” ~~ John G. Diefenbaker

They can call it what they want; Clean Energy Levy, Crisis Fund, Conservation Rate. At the end of the day it's a tax


HEY FORTIS ... what the heck is the Clean Energy Levy that I have just
recently noticed I am paying?  Looking at the back of my statement, under the Definitions and Explanation of Terms does not provide the answer, it is conveniently absent.  A search through Google however comes up with the answer -- a response directly from Fortis:
In addition to those charges, there are other items on the bill that we collect on behalf of all three levels of government.
  1. This includes GST for the federal government,
  2. the carbon tax for the provincial government
  3. and the clean energy levy, which goes toward supporting investment by the provincial government in clean energy technology.

HOLD ON A SECOND... the Clean Energy Levy sounds like exactly what we were told the Carbon Tax was for.  At least that is what the Government of BC states online in a section entitled, British Columbia's Carbon Tax 

(The BC) Government will consult on a new clean growth incentive program for large industrial emitters in B.C. The program is designed to keep industries competitive as they innovate to cut emissions.

There are two approaches to achieving this goal. The first involves providing incentives for interested B.C. facilities that meet a performance benchmark based on the lowest emitting facility globally – the cleanest in the world. The cleanest performers would receive the largest incentives. The second approach involves supporting investment in eligible emissions reduction projects.

New tax revenues will be used to advance important clean initiatives while building our low carbon economy.  

Good grief, it's getting near impossible to understand a bill any more, when it comes to the utilities we can't really do without. And furthermore, it's really is a B.S. way of getting more money from us, by attempting to make us feel guilty for using something we need.

Check out your BC Hydro bill, for example.  You'll find a Step 1 rate ... a Step 2 rate ... a Residential Conservation Rate ... plus of course the Basic Charge for 30 days service. Oh yah, and don't forget taxes of course.

Now all this came about, me looking at my Hydro and Fortis bills, because of the new (and latest) grab at our pocketbook.  It's called BC Hydro's Crisis Fund.  According to Global News, the BC Utilities Commission is, " ... allowing BC Hydro to collect an extra fee to create a so-called “customer crisis fund” that will be used to help people who can’t pay their bill."

By what right -- and what authority -- does the BC Utilities Commission, and BC Hydro, have the audacity to charge me for something I have not used?

And where actually, will this end?

Why would Fortis not be extended the same right to assess me for services NOT provided.

What about Telus ... Shaw ... Bell ... Rogers ???

And this new so-called Crisis Fund sure seems to be plagued by one of the biggest issues that 'charities' often times suffer from.  BC Hydro has admitted it will cost them .6 MILLION dollars to set up this Crisis Fund ... and then on top of that annual administration fees will be .9 MILLION dollars.   

That's a total of $1.5 MILLION dollars.  Those idiots at 
the BC Utilities Commission deserve to be run out of town!

A dollar here and a dollar there ... in the end it starts adding up to $10's and $20's, and then that starts compounding as even more extra fee's, taxes, and levies are added.

Government -- and it's agencies -- have an insatiable appetite for our money -- and as long as we're quietly willing to pay it -- they'll keep taking more and more of it.

They can call it what they want; Clean Energy Levy, Crisis Fund, Conservation Rate.  At the end of the day it's a tax -- and quite frankly, I've had enough of getting dinged for more and more of them. 

How about you?

In Kamloops, I'm Alan Forseth.

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  1. garret seinenJune 23, 2018 at 11:36 AM

    Regrettably a public that coalesces around the belief that carbon is dangerous, dirty, and a pollutant will never develop the moral outrage necessary to truly fight the ever increasing tax costs levied on energy production. Thirty plus years of educational indoctrination has now misinformed a generation. To return to a rational scientific view, that without carbon all life will end may well be impossible without incurring the collapse of the existing economic system, the mistaken belief as well embedded in our society. And any rational, reasoned discussion has become impossible, with in Canada, political irrelevance remains the reward for questioning the 'global warming' status quo. While it's not that I think we should give up, the fight needs to focus on the source of legitimacy behind the goal to limit carbon as it is the goal to limit life on this earth.

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