By Adrian Larose
Not all the energy-efficient light bulbs are on at city hall when it comes to a program that helps low-income people save electricity.
The EnviroCentre’s PowerPlay pilot project, which is supposed to save low-income people money by reducing the amount of electricity they use, has helped only 150 people so far, says Dana Silk, the centre’s general manager.
The centre is a non-government group that works with the city government to promote energy efficiency.
For the project, the group hands out energy-efficient compact fluorescent light bulbs to Ontario Works recipients. They also give out indoor drying racks, which are an electricity-free way to dry clothes, Silk says.
The project started last fall and ends in the new year. It will try to help 1,000 people, Silk says.
On March 2, a city council committee accepted the Basic Needs Strategy One-Year Review, a report that lists city programs that try to help low-income people. One was the PowerPlay project.
More than 120,000 people in Ottawa live below the Statistics Canada poverty line, says Coun. Alex Cullen. The line is the minimum income Statistics Canada says people need to survive comfortably.
Coun. Cullen, who is on the committee that accepted the review, says local government’s accessibility makes the city important to reducing the number of low-income people. “We’re on the ground floor and we see it.”
One obstacle the centre’s program faces, Silk says, is people fear ridicule if others know they receive Ontario Works, Ontario’s form of welfare. Privacy laws prevent the centre from asking people whether they receive Ontario Works.
“We’re not allowed to help them unless they admit it,” Silk says.
Still, he says, the program helps people who cannot afford huge electricity bills to find tools they might not otherwise have access to. “The people who need these services the most are not always the people who are able to get them,” he says.
The provincial government funds three-quarters of the PowerPlay project, while city-owned Hydro Ottawa covers the remainder, Silk says. The city government contributes staff time, but Silk says the government actually saves money, since it must sometimes pay people’s bills when they cannot afford electricity.
Generally, only Ontario Works recipients are eligible for the program, and Hydro Ottawa must be the home’s electricity company. Some area homes get power from Hydro One.
Cliff Gazee, whose anti-poverty work has won many awards, is part of another city government committee that discusses poverty. He receives money from the Ontario Disability Support Program but not from Ontario Works, and therefore is not eligible for the help.
Nonetheless, he says anything that reduces the money low-income people have to pay helps. People might not be aware of “little drains on their resources” like a clothes dryer, he says.
Because the city government has many problems to handle and little money to spend, it must work with companies such as Hydro Ottawa, Gazee says.
“I don’t see the city having the resources, at this point, to handle all these problems itself,” he says.
Though Gazee and Cullen say the city’s battle against poverty has generally gone well, Silk says the city should be making a larger effort.
“The city could be doing much more,” he says.