I have lived in the same,Marpole apartment for over 20 years.In that time,I have seen my hydro bill skyrocket.We began paying around 12.50 a month,always divided into 2 month billing periods.Lately,the bill has been around the 35 dollar a month price level but in December,our bill was over 75 dollars a month.When you are expecting a bill of under 70 dollars for the two months and you receive one for 150+ dollars.When you are a senior living on mincome on Canada pension,this comes as a shock.I assumed,as would any reasonable person,that there was a process to deal with rogue smart meters?It’s not like such such things are rare,by any means.I was given the run around and then my roommate,in who’s name the bill is under was given the same.What they told us had nothing to do with anything relevant.I sent a letter asking that the meter be recalibrated and what I got back was a demand letter for 112 dollars.I had already paid 75 dollars,5 dollars more than the regular bill should have been.That ,it seems wasn’t sufficient.Today i received a demand notice threatening to cut power if they weren’t paid immediately.Not that we could work something out.Not that they were looking into my complaint.Just pay up or you go dark.I won’t go into the run of river and site “C” blunders or the astronomical rate hikes hydro has demanded that the courts have had to intervene in.The current Lieberals in Victoria ran their election on corruption (that they were full of it)and how that corruption was getting big things done?The people of BC decided they’d rather slog through the mire and muck of the BC Lieberals corruption than trust the NDP.Not that the NDP were any worse than any other governments on the world stage at that time.As for scandals,there’s just nothing in the history of the NDP that touches the corruption under “Gordo” or under Crusty the Clown.What is happening to us is nothing in the over all scheme of things in BC and in Vancouver in particular.Living here is horribly expensive.Having a 300% increase in a hydro bill(admittedly it’s closer to 200%,I was factoring in that the bill had been at 56 dollars for over a decade)is something that a person on a fixed income is totally unable to plan for.Being threatened with a discontinuation of service if that wasn’t paid within 10 days is troubling.This is the kind of behaviour I’d expect from the mafia.This is pure thug behaviour.Threatening a senior,with multiple medical conditions and living on a fixed income is beyond the pale.This is the kind of thug behaviour we see in places like Detroit and Flint,Michigan.Vital services being stripped from vulnerable people with no recourse.I have long been active in my opposition to the BC government in all it’s many guises.This bill,however isn’t even in my name.This is just standard,hydro policy.They treat everyone with complete disdain.I tried to call on the phone and was put on an “at least 20 minutes”waiting list and told to hold.The last time I was on hold for over 40 and then they simply refused to deal with me as my name isn’t on the bill.My roommate is on disability and isn’t the person to complain about anything.Her income is even less than mine.This is almost certainly a case of an out of synch smart meter.Stories of them abound.Just don’t try to tell that to Hydro.These meters were backed by a very high up BC Lieberal insider,like everything purchased by this crooked government.They are a disaster and they may even be a health concern?What they certainly are is a flawed piece of machinery that is prone to malfunctions and are being run by a crown corporation who refuses to acknowledge any of this.They were installed under protest by half the Province.When something comes from a Lieberal insider who has already been paid a huge fee.You can bet there will be a battle every time something goes wrong.I am just one of a large number of BC citisens who’s so called smart meter is out of order.Having anything done about it is almost if not totally impossible.I have enough problems without this one.A company that is supposed to be a part of my Province’s legacy is stealing from a senior on mincome.It has been so badly mismanaged by this government that our rates are already hundreds of percentage points over what they could have been had we not bought into that idiotic ROR nonsense.Now they want to build a site “C” and generate even more excess power that they’ll end up selling at a loss,like the ROR forced us to pay for ourselves.It’s hard enough being shook down by your government.Even harder when you just don’t have that kind of money.Knowing that corruption,graft,insider pay offs and back room collusion are causing much of this added cost makes it unbearable.