Yesterday, an Hydro-Québec press release announced that their “customers are increasingly satisfied”! Is that so? It is strange, because the customers are paying increasingly more (year after year) for the same damn service (on average each year more than the Canadian consumer price index). Why should they feel more satisfied with that, I ask you!
I guess the quality of the electricity is good (if anyone could quantify that), the service is more reliable, but hydro-electricity is amongst the cheapest energy, most of our infrastructure is already paid for and the company is already making huge profits (over $3-billion). So, where's the need to increase the rates? Of course, the argument for an increase is that customers from Quebec are paying one of the lowest rates in the country so they shouldn't complain if H-Q tries to bring them closer to the national average. Also, H-Q blames “an increase in supply costs and the costs resulting from the harsh temperatures of the past two winters” and the fact that production cost for wind energy is much higher. It sounds like corporate excuses.
The last couple of time I had to deal with their customer service I was quite disappointed. When they started installing the new “intelligent” meters, it took a good six months to arrange an appointment for the installation. And, with the next-generation meters, they promised customers would be able to track their daily electricity use and it took over TWO YEARS for that option to become available on their website through the “My Consumption Profile” page! So, no, it would be really absurd for me to be “increasingly satisfied” at all!
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