SIX NATIONS — Six Nations resident Ron Hill wants to know more about the hydro one partnership proposed by the Elected Band Council and how it will affect him. He says that despite making a presentation to council where he shared his and others’ concerns, he has heard nothing from chief or council since.
Information given to the Elected Council includes evidence of hidden cost and delivery fees to Six Nations customers. He complains that while the average fair market value for electricity was 2.36 cents per kilowatt hour in 2015, but will change with Six Nations / Hydro One deal.
He also complains about delivery charges, regulatory charges, Global adjustment fees, hidden within the kWh price of 7.9 cents per kWt. He claims that with the push to Solar and Wind energy, the cost of electricity will actually go up.
He and others wonder why a better deal for Six Nations residents was not struck. They would like to see a preferred electricity rate.
“A preferred rate will see significant monthly, annual and lifetime cost savings to every Six Nations member that is a Hydro One customer,” says Hill by way of a written statement.
A survey of the hydro bills at four different homes reveals, according to Hill, reveals that the less hydro-electricity one uses, the more they pay per kWt. He argues that any conservation measures one may implement rather than be rewarded, are being penalized by this way of billing.
He presented to Council a list of reasons why he feels a better deal could and should have been drawn up that would benefit every Six Nations home rather than a deal that would pour funds into some central fund individuals never directly benefit from. These include references to the Nanfan Treaty, the Haldimand Deed and other historical treaties.
Since the majority of electricity is still generated by water, thus the term hydro-electric, there are also matters regarding the use of water generated turbines that Hill believes should be taken into consideration as a resource in which First Nations are not compensated for since 1893. He argues that, today, the Niagara River generates two million kWt’s of electricity on the Canadian side only with 2.4 million kWt’s on the American side of the falls.
The rising cost of electricity to the consumer, generated with the use of water, a First Nations resource, and delivered by countless towers erected on First Nations territories is clear. Hill wants Chief and Council to get on the right side of this deal and demand relief to Six Nations residents and businesses for resource use if nothing else.
Regarding the delivery charges Six Nations customers are still being billed for, Hill is appalled that this is being allowed under the ordinances of the Indian Act as well as the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People regarding resource use.
The presentation was detailed, logical and well researched when it was introduced to the Elected Council some four weeks ago. Hill and some others of like mind addressed Band Council again Tuesday, seeking answers to their questions and explanations of why, they believe, Council settled for a lump of cash rather than direct relief for Six Nations people and businesses in perpetuity. He also wanted to know why he had heard nothing from Council since his first presentation.
