Ontario hydro bill reductions to ultimately cost ratepayers more
TORONTO — Soaring electricity bills in Ontario will see an average 17-per-cent cut this summer, a year before the provincial Liberals bid for re-election, but those savings will ultimately cost ratepayers billions in extra interest payments.
Premier Kathleen Wynne announced the savings Thursday, as well as further measures for rural and low-income customers, but acknowledged that the bill for the across-the-board relief will eventually come due for ratepayers.
“Over time it will cost a bit more. That’s true,” she said when detailing the plan. “And it will take longer to pay off. That’s also true. But it is fairer because it doesn’t ask this generation of hydro customers alone to pay the freight for everyone before and after.”
Electricity bills in the province have roughly doubled in the last decade, rising faster than inflation since 2010, and have sparked increasing anger among Ontarians, leading to plummeting approval ratings for Wynne.