Without proper provincial representation at a hydro forum, business owners in Windsor are still left with questions about rising rates and time of use billing.

Ontario’s Energy Minister Bob Chiarelli was invited to the public meeting held at the Holiday Inn downtown, but didn’t show up.

Co-owner of Fast Signs in Windsor Donna Bilodeau says time of use billing will have a much greater impact on small businesses than on residences. “I can do my laundry at midnight if I need to, but I can’t run my business at midnight. I think there has to be some kind of response to our concerns on how we’re supposed to run our businesses with ever-increasing rates, especially on our electricity.”

Many business owners at the meeting had similar concerns, which they first thought could be directed at Enwin, but turned out to be provincial issues.

Enwin says their portion of the average Windsor hydro bill has remained steady at about 22% over the last eight years, and there’s not much they can do to lower the rate. They do, however, offer retrofit programs.