The United Way of Bruce Grey has released a report that says energy poverty is an income problem, particularly that minimum wage isn’t keeping pace with fuel prices, nor the cost of living.
Executive director Francesca Dobbyn was on The Open Line on 89.3 CFOS FM to talk about the increase in demand for the United Way’s Utility Assistance Program.
“The issue of energy poverty is an income issue. It’s not a budget issue, it’s not a prioritization issue,” said Dobbyn. “And looking at the disconnection data is really important as well, of how people are managing what the impact is of disconnection.”
She went on to say that if someone’s power is disconnected for a late payment, and they want their service reinstated, the reconnection fee on top of paying the full amount in arrears can put that person or household further behind next month.
That’s what the Utility Assistance Program was initially created for.
The United Way of Bruce Grey also had to put a temporary pause on intakes for the energy program because the board found that the program was $15,000 over budget for the year – this was because of an increase in demand, fueled by a long winter with cold weather later into the spring.
When it comes to understanding the impact of rising energy costs, the United Way initially only had their own data to go on.
“We’ve been tracking energy data for well over 20 years because of our utility program, and all we’ve been able to report on so far has been our program. It’s been our facts, our data, it’s how we’ve helped people in the community stay connected to their utilities,” said Dobbyn. “We were able to find and connect to greater provincial data this summer – the Ontario Energy Board has an open data source. And full transparency, we used a lot AI to analyze this data, and that’s a level of analysis we’ve never been able to do before
Between 2019 and 2023, the number of residential electricity accounts in Ontario grew by just 4.1%, while residential arrears dollars increased by 118.7%. In Westario Power’s service area, residential accounts grew by 3.9%, while the number of residential accounts in arrears increased by 60.2% and the value of arrears increased by 73.7%.
United Way Bruce Grey’s data show what those regulatory numbers cannot: the household budget behind the utility account.
In 2025–26, United Way Bruce Grey supported 299 households representing at least 592 people and facilitated $172,116 in direct utility grants. Among households for which income information was available, the average annual household income was approximately $28,368.
Rural properties tend to use natural gas, heating oil, or propane to heat their homes or to heat their water. Heating oil and propane aren’t paid for with a monthly bill, but rather by the truckload — and to refill fuel tanks can cost around $700 each time.
Approximately 70% of United Way Bruce Grey’s utility grant dollars purchased wood, propane and furnace oil in 2025–26.
Provincial assistance programs provide support for regulated electricity and natural gas costs, but delivered heating fuels such as wood, propane and furnace oil fall outside of the province’s Low-Income Energy Assistance Program (LEAP). The United Way uses locally-raised funds to help fill that gap.