A new report from the Fraser Institute shows the price of electricity grew significantly faster in Ontario than everywhere else in Canada over the past decade. From 2008 to 2016 residential hydro costs in Ontario rose 71 per cent, while the average increase across Canada totalled 34 per cent. The report, called Evaluating Electricity Price Growth, also shows that electricity prices in the province increased at nearly four times the overall rate of inflation in the period from 2008 to 2015.
Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli says while the Liberal government continues to deny the high price of energy in the province, facts are facts. He says the excuse the Liberals use is that the energy rates are low, but that doesn’t factor in global adjustment or delivery charges. Fedeli says Ontario has the highest all in electricity rates in North America, period. Fedeli, like the report, blamed excess energy generation and the Liberal government’s decisions to pay premium prices for wind and solar energy development for the high energy rates. He says the government gave rich 20-year contracts to what he called “Liberal Insiders”. Fedeli says $1.3-million was given to the Liberal party from the 30 wind and solar companies who got the majority of the contracts.
Fedeli says the Auditor General has told them that the province has paid $37-billion for energy they didn’t need, and still owe $133-billion. He says all the decisions that the Liberals have made on the hydro file were made with their own best interests in mind, and not the best interests of the people of Ontario.
