For Ontario Canada residence as you know electricity prices are rising, you may be eligible for credits and benefits that can help manage costs.
The new Ontario Clean Energy Benefit takes 10 per cent off electricity bills for families, farms and small businesses. The average household will see savings of about $150 this year. The credit will be applied directly to your electricity bill for the next five years.
When you file a 2010 tax return, you may also be eligible for the Ontario Energy and Property Tax Credit. You could be eligible for up to $900 and as much as $1,025 for qualifying seniors. To find out more, go to ontario.ca/energyplan
If you live in the North, you tend to pay more for energy because of severe winters and higher home heating costs. Now, you could be eligible for the new Northern Ontario Energy Credit, available for families and individuals. To apply, fill out a form at ontario.ca/northernenergycredit and mail it in or pick up an application at your nearest ServiceOntario centre.
Our electricity bill payments are helping to:
Put an end to smog-producing coal plants, to help clean up the air.
Improve transmission and distribution lines that carry power to our homes, hospitals, schools and businesses.
Upgrade nuclear plants that produce about 50 per cent of Ontario's electricity supply.
Construct hydro-electric projects like the one in Northern Ontario on the Lower Mattagami River.
Build new, clean sources of electricity like wind turbines and solor farms-creating a new sector focused on clean technologies.
Over the next 20 years, including taxes and other charges, electricity bills are projected to rise about 3.5 percent per year. However, largely because of investments being made in the short term to bring on new energy supply and upgrade electricity infrastructure, electricity bills are expected to increase by about 7.9 per cent per year over the next five years.
