The Independent Staff

Dawn-Euphemia is checking the numbers after the Florence Community Centre had a whopping power bill.

The township council recently heard the latest bill totalled $1,619.27 for just one month.

January’s bill was about $780.

“Are the rentals picking up?” asked Councillor Leslea Williams wondering if the additional power use was because of new bookings.

But Treasurer Bob Fox says that’s not the case. He says Hydro One often estimates the bill for the community centre instead of sending someone out to read the meter and find out exactly what the power use is.

Fox says he called customer service and the operator suspected the bill was so high because the municipality was heating with hydro – it’s not.

Fox says the township will pay the bill and then work with Hydro One to recoup any extra it has paid.

This isn’t the first time there has been a problem with the power bill. Recently councillors noticed the tiny Shetland Library’s bill was also hundreds of dollars. The building is only open a couple of days a week.

The cost of power has been a hot topic with both the Premier and the NDP announcing plans to cut hydro costs in the wake of criticism from customers.