At least the splash pads are free.
"This year there is a greater awareness for energy conservation and people are setting their air conditioners higher and using ceiling fans." -- London Hydro spokesperson Nancy Hutton
Cooling off could otherwise burn a quick hole in your cotton shorts this summer as air conditioning costs rise higher than ever before.
On this first morning of a summer predicted to be a scorcher, soaring electricity bills and a provincewide energy guilt trip should have Ontarians rethinking the way they cool down, say energy officials.
"We are really encouraging people to consider turning the temperatures up a little higher," said Peter Love, chief energy conservation officer of the Ontario Power Authority's Conservation Bureau. "Don't keep it so cold that it is cold."
The authority estimates a two-degree increase on a thermostat could knock nine per cent off a bill. Four degrees could eliminate 19 per cent.
"That comes right off your bill," Love said.
Pressured to reduce summer energy usage since the blackout in 2003, Londoners have even more incentive now because of a hike in electricity costs last month that will increase electricity bills by an average of 13 per cent.
"This year there is a greater awareness for energy conservation and people are setting their air conditioners higher and using ceiling fans," London Hydro spokesperson Nancy Hutton said.
Since May, a family of four using 1,000 kilowatt hours a month pays about $120.78, up from about $106.98 before the rate increases announced by the Ontario Hydro Board, Hutton said
A kilowatt hour is the use of 1,000 watts of electricity for one hour. Ten 100-watt bulbs burning for an hour makes a kilowatt hour.
