Altogether, it seems to mean inexorable price hikes for a commodity that’s already 30 per cent more expensive than in 1990, after adjusting for inflation.

“This is not a surprise. No one anywhere is saying, ‘Gee, I didn’t think that would happen,’ ” said John Bennett, executive director of the environmental group Sierra Club of Canada.

Governments knew they would need to make critical, costly investments in the grid, Bennett said. But what they didn’t do, he said, was put in place enough programs to help people in need pay their bills or cut their usage through conservation and subsidized home retrofits.

“Allowing the electricity rates to actually pay for the cost of electricity is the right thing to do. Tactically, it’s incompetent to raise them without making sure that those who have difficulty paying are taken care of,” he said. “We should have programs in place so that we don’t have people turning off the heat or not buying food or not paying the rent.”

© CBC News

Keywords: costs, seniors