‘It ruined me’: Ontario fixed income seniors forced to move due to sky high hydro rates

For 80 years Bob Kincaid never gave a second thought about leaving Sundridge, a tiny village south of North Bay, Ont. He was born there, and he just assumed he’d die there too, but rising hydro rates threw a wrench in those plans.

“I could walk 50 miles around Sundridge,” he says. “I knew every road, every creek to fish on.”

You could say the north defined him and his wife Janine.

Kincaid worked as a TNT mixer, survived two explosions and raised a family. He thought he and Janine would be fine in their old age with their pension and CPP.

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Then they saw their bills start to rise, in particular their hydro costs. They say they were forced to move and later resettled in Belmont, Ont., just outside London to be near their kids.

“I came down to Bob one day … and I didn’t even want to say anything to him, but I said, ‘Bob, we can’t live here anymore, we can’t pay the rent,'” Janine said.

“I was taking it from Peter to give to Paul and just kept going back and forth. And I could not get that budget down to where I wanted it.”

Once the decision was made, they were packed and on the road within a week.

“They dragged me behind the U-Haul for about 2 miles,” joked Kincaid.

READ MORE: Hydro One leaves family of 6 without electricity for months

Like many elderly Ontarians, the Kincaid’s found the cost of living going up faster than their incomes.

In Sundridge, they were paying $500 a month in rent on a First Nation reserve. By last year, their Hydro One bills had creeped up to about $500 a month despite using wood to heat their home as often as possible.

Delivery charges made up a significant portion of their bill, something that is not uncommon in rural areas.

Today, in their basement apartment near London, their rent is $795. As for their hydro bill, they say it’s far more manageable. They’re paying just over $50 a month with local provider Thames Electrical.

Looking back at how much they were paying in hydro in Sundridge, they are mystified as to how they were supposed to manage on a fixed income.

READ MORE: Kingston Hydro cuts off single mom who chose groceries over utility bill

“We don’t go to restaurants,” Kincaid said. “We can’t.”

“It’s pathetic,” adds Janine.

Today, Bob and Janine leave the lights off as much as they can.

The move has hit Bob hard. He sits in front of the TV all day and misses all the things he loved to do including hunting and being in the woods.

“It ruined me”, Bob said.

He added he can’t even think about visiting his brother and sister in Sundridge because “it would be too hard” on him.

“I’m too old to adjust. Really and truly. I imagine there are people that can, but I’m at home.”