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2 - Orono Weekly Times, Wednesday, August 21,2002 A ocna St'fv/ihi F.ist t'i.n nh/tnn .in,7 /vj-iv;»/ >'//»,•« Subscriptions $29.91 + $2.09 G.S.T. = $32.00 per year. Publications Mail Registration No. 09301 • Agreement No. 40012366 Publishing 48 Issues Annually at the Office of Publication "We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Publications Assistance Program (PAP) toward our mailing costs. " Orono Weekly Times 5310 Main Street, P.O. Box 209, Orono, Ontario LOB 1M0 E-mail: oronotimes@speedline.ca • Phone/Fax 905-983-5301 Publisher/Editor Margaret Zwart The Orono Weekly Times welcomes letters to the editor on subjects of interest to our readers. Opinions expressed to the editor and articles are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Orono Weekly Times. Letters must be signed and contain the address and phone number of the writer. Any letter considered unsuitable will not be acknowledged or returned. We reserve the right to edit for length, libel and slander. If your retail or classified ad appears for the first time, please check carefully. Notice of an error must be given before the next issue goes to print. The Orono Weekly Times will not be responsible for the loss or damage of such items. ' Bigger is better? Editorial by Roy C. Forrester It is almost three years ago" that the provincial government government in Ontario brought about dramatic change to the production and delivery of hydro in Ontario. With this change, the days of the non-profit public hydro utilities that had served the needs of Ontario for many decades were brought to an end. Commercially viable corporations were the darlings darlings of the then-Harris government. There are now four private coiporate hydro systems providing hydro customer/delivery services in the Region of Durham. They are Oshawa, Whitby, Scugog and Veridian Connections - the latter being formed by Clarington, Ajax and Pickering. These private corporations provide about 15 percent percent of the customers' total hydro bill. The actual hydro used and cost of provincial transmission represent the remaining 70 percent and 15 percent of the 1 total bill. There is no competition between the four Durham corporations even though there is a wide range in their charges. The new billing system devised by the province does however provide an opportunity to make comparisons comparisons between the four customer/delivery providers within Durham Region. Using 2000 KWHs over a two month period affects a charge of $27.75 in Scugog (Port Perry), $32.56 in Oshawa, $45.56 for Veridian customers and $48.96 for Whitby customers. These prices represent about 15% of the total bill. The cost of electricity and transmission charges are on top of the above noted delivery costs. There is no competition in this phase of the billing which represents represents some 85 percent of the total bill. These charges are the same for customers no matter where they reside. Recently, Veridian Connec-tions announced ai March 1st rate adjustment increasing customers' total electricity costs by approximately 6.51 percent. Although this is a true statement it is somewhat misleading. misleading. Veridian does not control the total cost of the Hydro bill. In fact, Veridian controls only that portion involving the customer/delivery charge - 15 percent of the total bill and that is where the increase was directed. directed. As a result, the acclaimed 6.51 percent increase turns out to be some 36 to 38 percent increase on Veridian's cost of customer/delivery charge now showing showing on the hydro bills. An increase of 36 and 38 percent is somewhat major when you compare it with an annual annual increase of 2.81 for our municipal taxes and 4.5 percent percent for municipal water, which also fingers out a distribution distribution section. In the Durham area, Scugog provides by far the lowest customer/delivery charge. It defies the notion that bigger is better and as well continues to retain the spirit of a public service at the lowest cost for its customers. customers. Commemorative poster marks fair's 150 th Anniversary This year, to help celebrate celebrate the 150th Anniversary of the Durham Central Fair, a special commemorative "limited edition" fair poster will be on sale. This poster is a copy of an oil painting titled "Fair Day at Orono" which was commissioned by the fair board and painted painted by a local artist from Enniskillen, Eric Bowman. The painting is based on an old post card from around 1948 showing the various activities at the fairgrounds fairgrounds at Orono. It shows a large crowd in the grandstand grandstand as well as along the track fence. There is a 1948 Chevrolet car, which has attached to it a mobile starting starting gate, leading four trotters trotters on the track past the old starter's stand. As well, there are various vendor booths, the Holstein Show and the ferris wheel. Also, the painting illustrates some of the homes on Centre Street at the north end of the fairground and the old poultry building. The original painting will also be on display in the Agricultural Building and will be sold by "silent auction". Bids will be taken from 4 pm Thursday to 1 pm Sunday. The winning bid will be announced at 2 pm Sunday. This attractive poster is very suitable for framing and is a good qualr ity poster board. It will be available only during the fair at the historical display area in the Agricultural Building for $5.00 each. Since there will just be 1,000 copies available, the historical committee has set a limit of three posters per person. Make sure you stop by and get one of these great posters! Myno Van Dyke