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WHAT IS AN ENERGY AND
WATER WATCHDOG GROUP?
An Energy and Water Watchdog Group (EWWG) is a citizen group created to watch over the companies that produce and provide energy and water to people for heating, electricity, and transportation and ensure they are acting in the public interest. The method for forming EWWGs is based on the successful method used to form Citizen Utility Boards (CUBs) in the U.S. A Citizen Utility Board (CUB) is an independent, non-profit, organization of residential energy and water utility ratepayers. CUBs exist in four states in the U.S., and the first CUB was organized in Wisconsin in 1979. CUBs advocate for fair electricity, oil, gas and water rates, and sensible energy policies before utility regulatory commissions, the government and the courts. Individual CUBs can be set up for each utility or one CUB can be set up to advocate for some or all utility ratepayers together. WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE
BETWEEN CUBs AND OTHER GROUPS? According to a
national survey,
64% of Canadians support the creation of CUB-like
groups in Canada using the pamphlet method, while only
27% oppose it. In addition, a
national coalition
made up of 31 citizen groups with a total membership
of 3.5 million Canadians supports the creation of
CUB-like groups in Canada. WHAT DO CUBs DO? WHO CONTROLS CUBs? HOW ARE CUBs FUNDED? HOW HAVE CUBs BEEN
CREATED? WHERE HAVE CUBs BEEN
ESTABLISHED? WHAT IS THE TRACK RECORD
OF CUBs? HOW COULD EWWGs BE
CREATED IN CANADA USING THE CUB METHOD? Given that the effects of
the operations of energy and water utilities are
connected to the production and use of energy for
transportation, provincial governments could (and
should) also require gas stations to hand out the EWWG
pamphlet to drivers when the fill up, and also require
public transportation companies to hand out the EWWG
pamphlet to riders when the buy a ticket. For example, if the Ontario
government required energy and water utilities, and
gas stations and public transportation companies to
distribute the EWWG pamphlet, about 8 million
Ontarians would receive the pamphlet. If only
five percent joined the provincial EWWG for $40
annually, it would have 400,000 members and an annual
budget of $16 million. With this broad base and
funding, the EWWG would have resources needed to
educate people about sustainable energy and water use,
and to advocate for their concerns in government
policy-making processes.
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