Basic customer charge

On Nov. 13th, Fortis BC responded to my letter of Nov. 10th regarding the “basic customer charge” on the Fortis electricity bill.

I had put my concerns in my letter to Fortis as well as writing into the paper.

The heading of the response from Fortis was “FortisBC answers questions”, all they did was tell us that the fixed  charge is for the use of their lines, reading our meter, billing us & infrastructure maintenance. This “basic customer charge” was $30.33, on my 60 day reading, which adds up t $181.98 annually. If every customer is charged this just on the electric bill, this adds up to millions annually. If a customer has gas & electric bills, what are they paying in a fixed “basic charge”?
 
If I was a customer of a restaurant & I got my bill for the food & drink that I ordered, then there was an extra charge on the bill for a “customer charge” because we used the table & chairs to eat that food, used the cutlery & plates, and for them to write up our bill , that restaurant would not be in business for very long as “we have a choice to go elsewhere”. We have nowhere else to go but to get our electricity from Fortis in this area.
 
How can they seek to keep their costs low (which they state) and then there is an additional charge on that same bill, it is like spinning wheels. I live in a condo half the size of my previous one but my bill for electricity with Fortis was almost double than with BC Hydro, does this make sense?
 
Customers need to read over their bills and voice their concerns so Fortis can “work with us to keep costs low”.
 
Terry Sullivan