North Perth Mayor Julie Behrns is concerned about the potential hydro spike that is forecast for after the next election in Ontario.
Behrns says with already high hydro rates in rural Ontario, all that municipalities like North Perth can do is prepare as best they can with what they have from a municipal standpoint.
"In rural Ontario, yes the delivery charges are significant," she says. "As they municipality is concerned, we don't know what's going to happen after any election, whether it's provincial or federal, all we can do is deal with what we know."
Behrns says while it's hard to predict just what might be on the horizon, North Perth has made efforts to be more energy conscious to help offset rising costs.
"We all suspect, or should suspect, that hydro costs or energy costs of all sorts may be on the increase," she says. However, how we deal with that or react in our own way, the municipality of North Perth is making sure that our energy consumption is within reason."
Mayor Behrns pointed to things like the solar panels on the new Steve Kerr Memorial Complex and their carbon initiative as positive steps toward municipal-level energy reduction to save money.
