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Hydro plan to result in record rates: MP Smith

MPP Todd Smith, PC Energy Critic

Prince Edward Hastings MP Todd Smith says a leaked cabinet document reveals the Liberal government’s debt financing plan for Ontario hydro rates will send electricity bills skyrocketing.

“The plan also means the return of the Debt Retirement Charge – under a slightly different name, starting in 2025,” said Smith. “When the government came out with their scheme, we knew that they weren’t fixing the underlying problems with the system and they were just creating a large debt and hiding it at Ontario Power Generation.”

Smith said they’ll use it to subsidize rates until the next election, at which point hydro rates start going back to record levels.

The Debt Retirement Charge was taken off bills at the start of 2016, but he said it’s making a comeback in 2026 and will be four times the size of the old charge by 2028, at more than $21 on every bill.

“A $21 charge is five times as big as the charge was the last time it was on your bill,” said Smith. “They don’t think this is a problem for people’s pocketbooks, they think this is a problem for their re-election chances.”

Smith said the document shows the average household electricity bill will jump almost $75 a month over the next 10 years, and that Ontario will be experiencing record high hydro rates again by 2024.

“Ontario still has the fastest rising rates in North America, and Wynne’s four-year plan does nothing to change that,” he said.

Filed Under: Local News

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  1. Chuck says:

    I wish Smith would tell us what his and his parties plan is rather than just bash. We know the Conservatives deregulated the public Ontario Hydro during their last kick at the can.

  2. Gary Mooney says:

    Back to the future. The Liberal government’s “Fair Hydro Plan” will reduce electricity bills by an average of 25% in 2017 (more in remote / rural areas), with minimal increases over the next four years.

    The leaked cabinet document obtained by the PC Party shows that electricity bills will be increased again at 6.5% per year starting in 2022, close to the rapid rate of increase imposed since 2009. By 2025, electricity bills will exceed those in 2016.See the chart at http://tinyurl.com/melvgup .

  3. Vincent says:

    So what exactly are the conservatives proposing? More tax-funded subsidies to hold down prices?Ontario’s electricity challenges are complex and don’t start or end with the Liberals. Nor is “green power” the main culprit, that’s a myth.

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