Cornwall Ontario – According to media reports, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne is suggesting that high hydro rates that are crippling Ontario are in fact her fault.
Under the guise of caring for the environment, coal (even though there are new technologies that reduce carbon and pollution) was phased out in favour of Wind and Solar power with lucrative contracts given out, some suggesting with some corruption, at rates that simply are near impossible to justify. Now there are murmurings that Natural Gas is not in favour either with Wynne government.
In fact a report stated that Ontarian’s have been gouged to the tune of over $37 BILLION dollars over an eight year period alone.
While that’s “only” about $350 per resident, the impact on businesses, rural communities, and industry have desolated areas of the province and destroyed some types of commerce, and are leading to school closures in Eastern Ontario.
It has impacted the value of cottages where families are getting bills of over $100 per month when zero hydro has been used.
MPP Randy Hillier has been working hard on attacking the hydro issue.
At root of this issue are extra delivery and other charges that Ontario is adding to rates that other provinces are not.
In fact Ontario just announced that it’s going to purchase cheaper power from Quebec which could’ve been done prior.
A tiny kick back to consumers has been doled out in the province not charging its share of the HST,but that was only added by the Wynne gov’t itself a few years ago. Essentially it’s like putting $3 in a casino game and winning .40 cents and thinking you’re ahead. All the lights and bells don’t change the reality that you’ve lost a bunch of money.
While Hydro One’s rates for Hydro are in fact high, at 18 cents per kilowatt at peak times, it’s the delivery and other charges of over $80 per month on average for consumption of 1,000 KW of juice. And it’s much higher in rural communities.
Wynne charges consumers a delivery charge, a transmission connection charge, a transmission network charge, and on top of that a Smart Meter Charge.
How is it that the other provinces don’t hit citizens up for those extra fees, which in some cases amount to far more than actual power used?
Hydro after all isn’t oil. It’s not truly consumed. It goes from my house into my neighbours. And Hydro One also charges a fee for line loss!
Sadly, CFN could not confirm that either of the opposition parties would eliminate those fees which means that voting for them would mean an end to them as this is a cash cow for the province which is now looking to add a CARBON TAX which would further gouge residents.
The toxicity of this clearly is the main election issue with a provincial election less than two years away.
Could Premier Wynne take one for her team as former Preme Dalton McGuinty did last term? Could this be the new trend for parties who want to govern, but not actually serve the overall good of the public?
CFN reached out to the NDP and PC Party to try and ask some questions about their positions as it’s of course easy to criticize, but a bit harder to offer real changes or solutions. Searching the net did not turn up any quotes by leaders Patrick Brown or Andrea Horvath stating that they’d end delivery and other charges. If those quotes exist we’d be happy to update this story.
What do you think dear CFN viewers? You can post your comments below.
Anything she does now is a moot point. She’s been screwing Ontario for three years And she was part of McGuinty’s screwing of Ontario as well.
Hugger that being said the opposition has failed to make hay of her and the party’s failings.
I agree. That’s why I dislike majority governments. Minority or coalition governments are much better for getting things done for all concerned.
Winnie the Poo has to resign because the people of Ontario are not going to accept her for long – Winnie is in her last of her political career and McGuilty is gone for good. Schools would not be able to pay for the electricity and families cannot afford it and there is a big stink over this. Businesses would fold to pay such rates.