Hydro rate relief will not include return of 10 per cent discount: Wynne
Energy minister rules it out as the premier promises to help Ontarians.

thestar.com
By Rob Ferguson
Nov. 21, 2016

A promise from Premier Kathleen Wynne to take more sting out of high electricity bills will not include the return of a 10-per-cent discount scrapped last January.

Energy Minister Glenn Thibeault has ruled out a reincarnation of the Ontario Clean Energy Benefit, which cost taxpayers $1 billion annually.

“Things like the OCEB, their time has come and gone,” Thibeault told reporters Monday. He said Ontarians will have to wait and see what other measures he can devise.

Wynne surprised delegates at a Liberal convention in Ottawa on the weekend with a mea culpa over hefty hydro bills, which she called “a mistake,” and pledged to find “more ways to lower rates.”

Thibeault said he is meeting with a variety of groups, including the Canadian Federation of Independent Business and social service agencies, to get ideas.

“If it’s 50 cents or $50, I’m going to continue to work to find a way to help.”

Measures so far include waiving the 8-per-cent provincial portion of the HST on electricity bills starting in January, removing the debt retirement charge from bills and scrapping a planned $3.8 billion round of renewable energy projects to keep another $2.45 a month from being slapped on hydro bills in future.

“We know that’s not enough; there’s more that needs to be done,” Wynne said Monday.

The government is also working with the Ontario Disability Support Plan to get more people who receive social assistance on a program that will give them monthly financial help with their bills, Thibeault added.

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said Ontarians shouldn’t get their hopes up for a new miracle solution to hydro prices from the government, given that a lot of costs are built into the system through long-term energy contracts.

“Do I think they can come out with some major silver bullet? For the people of Ontario, I hope so, but I doubt it very much.”

Progressive Conservative Leader Patrick Brown said he would like to see details of existing contracts, particularly with renewable energy suppliers, to see if there are any “exit ramps” that could allow the government to cancel them without paying massive penalties.

The premier said the search for ways to lower hydro bills is a continuing effort, but that she has not set a specific deadline.

“We’ll do it as quickly as we can.”