[homeles_ot-l] FW: Big news on the smart submetering front

Wed Mar 25 11:51:08 EDT 2009

Good News!!!!

Laura Mayer

Housing Loss Prevention Worker

Nepean, Rideau & Osgoode Community Resource Centre

Centre de resources communautaires Nepean, Rideau et Osgoode

1642 Merivale Road, unit 541 (Merivale Mall)

Nepean, ON  K2G 4A1

Tel:613.596.5626

Fax:613.596.1870

HYPERLINK "mailto:lmayer at nrocrc.org" \nlmayer at nrocrc.org

HYPERLINK "http://www.nrocrc.org/" \nwww.nrocrc.org  

   _____  

From: Yutaka Dirks (ACTO) [mailto:dirksy at lao.on.ca] 
Sent: March-25-09 11:26 AM
To: Diane Wade (CLSOC); heastabrook at lihc.on.ca; Jan Richardson; Laura Mayer;
Luc Rivet (E-mail); lmacaulay at lutherwood.ca; michael-r at rogers.com;
mmccutcheon1 at sympatico.ca; AtkinsoR at lao.on.ca; Seana Moorhead (GBLC); Tara
Kainer (E-mail); vicnato at gmail.com
Subject: Big news on the smart submetering front

Hello everyone,

There has been a big announcement from the OEB related to smart submetering,
an issue that ACTO has been heavily involved in for a long time.  Kenn and
Mary are meeting today with the OEB to discuss the implications of the
announcement.  I’ve attached our press release and the following newstory
from today’s Toronto Star.  

Yutaka

   _____  

HYPERLINK "http://www.thestar.com/default"

Smart meters banned in apartments

March 25, 2009

Noor Javed   STAFF REPORTER

The Ontario Energy Board put an abrupt ban on the use of "smart meters" in
residential apartment buildings yesterday, sending a message to landlords
who are increasingly off-loading the cost of electricity to their tenants. 

The bulletin issued by the OEB was in response to numerous complaints they
have received from tenants being forced by their landlords to switch to
metered individual billing, when the cost of electricity was previously
included in their rent. 

Under current legislation, amended in November 2005, residential apartment
buildings are not allowed to install or use sub-meters, said Brian Hewson,
the chief compliance officer with the OEB.

"(It is) only when properties have been authorized that sub-metering systems
are allowed to be installed," said Hewson. Condo buildings, and other
providers, such as Toronto Hydro, are allowed to install and use smart meter
systems.

But the announcement still came as a shock to both landlords and sub-meter
distributors, such as Stratacon Inc., who have been using the devices for
years to encourage tenants to conserve energy.

"This came totally out of the blue," said Vince Brescia, president of the
Federation of Rental-housing Providers. "This has been going on for years.
It's been widely discussed ... and it seemed like the government was
supporting it." 

In 2007, Ontario's chief conservation officer, Peter Love, even awarded Park
Property Management, a rental company with buildings in Toronto, a
certificate recognizing their conservation efforts. 

That's why this sudden "enforcement" notice is such a shock, said Jennifer
Hassani, marketing director for Triacta, a firm that produces the technology
for smart meters.

Part of the reason for the confusion is the "lack of clarity" around the
regulation, said Mary Todorow, a research and policy analyst for the
Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario, which works to improve the housing
situation of low-income tenants. 

"It was allowed for condos, but not quite multi-residential. It was
voluntary, but it could happen under consent ... and some felt they could be
doing it without consent," she said. "I think it helps if everybody knows
the rules."

Hewson disagrees, saying the legislation is clear, but he admits there are
no guidelines for how sub-meters should be used in rental units because they
should not have been installed. Meanwhile, landlords who have installed
sub-meters can no longer use them for the purpose of billing customers,
Hewson said.

Dan McIntyre of the Federation of Metro Tenants' Associations says without
regulations, sub-metering puts tenants at a disadvantage.

The federation has been helping tenants in about 12 Toronto-area apartment
buildings where landlords have installed smart meters and threatened to cut
power if tenants refused to be billed separately. 

Hewson said yesterday's bulletin will likely spur the government to create
new legislation on the issue.

HYPERLINK
"http://www.yourhome.ca/homes/article/607832"http://www.yourhome.ca/homes/ar
ticle/607832

Internal Virus Database is out-of-date.
Checked by AVG.
Version: 7.5.557 / Virus Database: 270.11.18/2009 - Release Date: 18/03/2009
7:17 AM

Internal Virus Database is out-of-date.
Checked by AVG. 
Version: 7.5.557 / Virus Database: 270.11.18/2009 - Release Date: 18/03/2009
7:17 AM

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://list.web.net/lists/private/homeles_ot-l/attachments/20090325/00395266/attachment-0001.htm>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/gif
Size: 2079 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://list.web.net/lists/private/homeles_ot-l/attachments/20090325/00395266/attachment-0001.gif>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: ACTO March 24 2009 release OEB announcement.pdf
Type: application/octet-stream
Size: 38564 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://list.web.net/lists/private/homeles_ot-l/attachments/20090325/00395266/attachment-0001.obj>