Ford has blown his 12% hydro reduction promise Oct. 13, 2020
TORONTO — At a time when people need relief from monthly costs, the Ford government is hiking electricity prices again — dragging Ontario’s high electricity bills further in the wrong direction.
"Ontarians are under huge financial strain due to COVID-19," said Peter Tabuns, NDP critic for Energy and the Climate Crisis. "Yet Premier Doug Ford not only broke his campaign promise to reduce electricity prices by 12 per cent – he’s raising prices again and again.
“Kathleen Wynne sold off Hydro One and hiked hydro bills because she put the interests of shareholders ahead of regular, bill-paying Ontarians. Now, Doug Ford is doing exactly the same thing – putting shareholders ahead of people.”
The 1.97 per cent increase comes into effect Nov. 1, along with a return to the much-maligned time of use pricing, and adds an option for a tiered system.
Tabuns said instead of tinkering with the billing model while hiking prices, Ontario needs an overhaul of the system to actually lower the price of electricity.
“People don’t need the Liberals and the Conservatives arguing over who is worse for your high hydro bills – they need a premier willing to put people ahead of shareholders and actually overhaul the system to bring those bills down,” said Tabuns. “If Andrea Horwath was premier today, that’s exactly what we’d be doing.”
In August, the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) confirmed that Ford’s smoke and mirrors plan to rip up green energy contracts was never going to make a difference to hydro prices. At best, the IESO said, rewriting hydro contracts will only result in a 0.17 per cent reduction.
The hike announced Tuesday is on top other increases he’s approved since coming into office.