Use less pay more!

This morning one of the articles in one of the daily newspapers, the Globe and Mail mentioned that the residents of the city of Toronto are not using as much water this summer because of the weather. There has been little need to water gardens with record precipitation. The penalty for being frugal? The water department plans to charge the residents of the city more for the same amount of water. There is no incentive or reward for being a good citizen.

The water department is still spending $200,000 to encourage to use less water! Interesting timing. Yes, the campaign may have been planned sometime ago but it could have been shelved for a more meaningful time.

The same situation developed when residents of the province of Ontario reacted to pleas to conserve electricity and started to use less. Hydro's response was to charge more for the same amount because revenue was decreasing. By this logic, we should be charged less as usage increases. There must be a more logical way to help us all become better consumers and help the environment. Punishing users for using less does not seem appropriate.