Opinion – Government’s Hydro Plan an Expensive Shell Game

Cornwall Ontario – The Ontario Government announced electricity rate cuts on Thursday, to be paid for through refinancing of the Global Adjustment and transferring costs from the electricity ratepayer to the taxpayer.

“The latest Liberal plan does not undo any of the reckless policies that created the problem in the first place,” MPP Jim McDonell clarified. “Instead, they are simply going to be paying additional billions of dollars more over a longer period of time. According to the published reports, it is estimated that the rate cut will ultimately cost Ontario an additional $1.4 billion a year in interest. The Government boasts about cutting rates by 25%. However, that 25% includes the 8% HST reduction that already went into effect on January 1, which they are essentially re-announcing. These cuts to would not have been necessary if not for the Liberals’ disastrous energy policies which sent Ontario hydro rates skyrocketing in the first place.”

The PC Caucus vowed to support the initiative because of Ontarians’ urgent need for immediate hydro relief.

“People need relief now, and they will receive some” MPP McDonell concluded. “The government, however, has done nothing to fix the broken electricity system they created with a decade of bad policy, and refuses to acknowledge the root causes of the problem.”