New Hydro One bills give Liberals unfair advantage: opposition parties
Opposition parties say details of 25-per-cent rate cut on Hydro One’s bills give the Liberal government unfair advantage.

Thestar.com
Rob Ferguson
Nov. 30, 2017

New and simplified Hydro One bills, which highlight savings from the government’s 25-per-cent-rate cut, are giving Premier Kathleen Wynne’s Liberals an unfair edge as an election looms, rivals say.

“It’s not appropriate,” NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said Thursday.

“The only reason that information is on the bills is to provide a political advantage for the Liberals.”

Energy Minister Glenn Thibeault denied the accusation, saying it was Hydro One’s choice to put that information on the bills, which also highlight the money owed and when it is due.

“It’s clarity,” Thibeault told reporters. “We get questions in my office all the time saying ‘I don’t see the fair hydro plan on my bill.”

The information about the rate cut is under the headline: “what do I need to know?”

Progressive Conservative MPP Lisa MacLeod (Nepean-Carleton) called the inclusion of the savings “a ploy” and “cynical,” although her party would continue with the 25-per-cent-off plan if elected next June 7 and add a further reduction of 12 per cent.

The new bills were unveiled Wednesday following in-depth research into customer preferences, said Hydro One officials, who noted that 35 per cent of customer queries to the utility’s call centres were to have bills explained.

“This was a wide open process that Hydro One did,” Thibeault said. “It was an opportunity for them to do what they thought was best.”

It’s too early to say if a ministry committee studying bill redesigns, which could result in other utilities, such as Toronto Hydro, simplifying their bills, could include the government rate-cut information, the minister added.

The rate cut was passed last March, but was widely criticized by opposition parties because ratepayers will face an extra $25 billion in interest charges over the next 30 years as costs of upgrading the electricity system are spread out over decades.

Liberals have portrayed that extra cost as a trade-off for easing prices now and compared it to a homeowner extending a mortgage term to get lower monthly payments.

Under the plan, hydro bills will increase no more than the rate of inflation, which is roughly two per cent now, over the next four years.

Horwath has said her hydro plan unveiled last February, which includes buying back shares in Hydro One, could save ratepayers up to 30 per cent by getting the federal government to cut its 5 per cent HST on bills and by capping profits for private power-producers.

The Wynne government has sold roughly half the shares in Hydro One to raise $9 billion for debt repayment and infrastructure projects, including public transit.