You’ve never met my wife. 
But seriously, you’ve never heard of the Law of Demand? I think the burden of proof is on those who say the law of demand doesn’t apply in this case, rather than vice versa.
Commercial enterprises that pay to light and heat large buildings spend a ton of money on power. The difference of a couple of pennies per kilowatt could make the difference between keeping computers on all night vs shutting them down, adjusting the thermostat a few degrees. In a long enough time frame all demand is elastic to some degree.
Yes, but demand for electricity is extremely inelastic. Retail electricity consumers are also insulated from the volatility of wholesale energy markets because prices are set some distance in advance.
Dr. Cube, I am quite familiar with the Law of Demand. Have you never heard of price-based elasticity of demand?
Sure, I understand price elasticity of demand. My question is how it is relevant. Unless you have evidence that the PED for electricity is 0 or positive, the law of demand still applies. This means a government which encourages people on the one hand to use less electricity, and on the other hand artificially lowers electricity prices, is working against itself to some degree. The question is simply how much and to what extent it is “dumb” or “stupid”.
Online has a large proportion of malcontents, & people who don’t live in Ontario. People who live in Ontario & like it are probably doing something else.
I rarely come into GD territory, but as an Ontarian I feel the same as RickJay. Hey, I heat with electricity, and I’ll be glad to get a 10% reduction, but it certainly is just vote buying on the McGuinty Liberals.
What wasn’t mentioned in the OP is that this same government just harmonized two taxes which resulted in an 8% increase in electricity rates, just after the rates were increased by the electricity providers by around 6%. People have been pissed big-time over this, and sensing the displeasure of an additional 14% rate increase (in an election year), they’ve now decided to provide a 10% rebate.
I know my equal billing has gone from around $200 a month 5 years ago to $300 a month now. I could use an extra $30 a month. Unfortunately, so could Ontario.