Page-û 28, Whitby Free Press, Wednesday, April 10, 1M9 Seven years ago, the U.K. electricitysys tem was privatized. The British C onservative government said it mode sense,. They promised it would Iead to Iower prices and improved reliability. TH .EY WERE WRONG. "A few people mode fortunes on tbe (privotization) Netse ape. Power Workers' Union We bs te deal, at tbe expense of the rest of us. Our electricify I I I* I It9dI I bis are bigb and service bas declined. We were taken jJ ý jýMj ta the cleaners, pure and simple." MARK HELLENS '.. i: tp /i .pu.a/wu Store Owner-- ____ n *4t U.K. electricity system "There are more and more interruptions in electricily assets were soîci for $10 bil- service lately, and they're losting longer. It's because the lion. They were actually, system isn't. being as well.maintained as it used ta be." worth $24 billion. Huge fo- PeM rsoelOKe tunes were made by the pri- Pers nne Off cervate sector, at public I don't know what the government was smoking or ex pense. drinking when they sold off our whole system, but ý-Hihprotsfmelciiy we've aIl had one helluva long hangover since then. contHinueproitr lectinithe And it's not getting ony better. What a disaster!" UK h iisq'oco MangeFrI calîs private utilities "the I.T.Maae purest money machines on My advice to people of Ontario? Don't make the à the market." same mistake we did here. Don't selI your electricity system. Fix it up if you have ta, but don't seli it. You'll regret it if you do.. It's more valuable thon you think." DAISY BERNARD Pensioner "When 1 visited my sister in Toronto last year, I could- n't believe how low ber electricity bill was, compared _ to ours. You have a much better system in Ontario."i SALLY DANIELS Toucher Brifish House of Commou Committee study on privai An Oxford University study concludes that U.K. electric- "There was supposed to be competition, but it doesn't seem ta apply ta most people. There's no real choice. We take what we're given and we pay what we're told. The profits go elsewhere." TERESA FULHAM Local Gomerment Offi<er "There was a dip in prices for a while ofter privotiza- tion, but we found out later it was because they-got rid of thousands of staff and fuel costs crashed. Then prices started going up again and again, to keep those high profits coming in. AIl in aIl, it's been bad news for consumners." MIKE TAMI "Now the Americans are buying up shores in aur electrical system and everybody is bracing for another round of rate increases. The campanies will blame- the cold weather, the bot weather, the fact that -people are using too much, or too little. They've always got an excuse ta raise rates." HEATHER HURLEY Clerk W- îty prices are 20% higher than they would be under ~,II~ IP~ Ipublic ow nership. v*U.K. electricity rates are ~ now about twice as high as '4 ~ Ontario's non-profit rates. ePrePodent, Power Wonkors' Union flot DfA ctorud ±from "For 90 years, the people of Ontario have owned their electricity system. It used to be that way in the is Tadeand ndutryU.K., before privatization. Now Britons will be tization inthe U.K. paving for their 2nvernment's big i,-itq- -f "In practice, while there has certainly been greater efficiency and downward pressure on costs, these sav- ings have flot found their way through to electricity customers. The beneficiaries of greater efficiency have D.tu ca been shareholders rather than customners." *Let's not make the same mistake here. Stop the Ontalo Hydro sell-off - keep rates low."' CANADIAN UNION 0F PUBLIC EMPLOYEES, LOCAL 1000. Power Workers - Turning a- littie Ilight on Hydro. For more information cail: 1 800 958-8PWU (1 800 958-8798) or Fax us at: 1 800 343-1083 or look us up on aur Web page at: http://www.pwu.c/pwu/ LISTEN TO WHAT BRITONS ARE TELLING US: