Part of power costs or waste of money?

It has been reported that Hydro One is applying to the Ontario Energy Board for an increase in the electricity charges. This is on top of the Wynne government’s Fair Hydro Plan which will injuriously affect our children through this government’s mismanagement of the energy file, up to $93 billion according to the Financial Accountability Officer.

It has also been reported, in various newspaper articles, that, in 2016, Hydro One CEO Mayo Schmidt was paid $4.4 million in salary and bonuses. But this is only the reported costs of one senior executive’s wages under the Electricity Act. What about the other entities included in the Electricity Act?

There are five, maybe six, different entities/corporations whose senior executives Ontarians are on the hook for wages. The reason I say “five maybe six” is because these various entities/corporations have, now and in the past, been amalgamated, renamed, and in some instances, are private-public partnerships. These entities included in the Electricity Act are: 1. Ontario Power Generation (OPG) 2. Hydro One 3. Ontario Power Authority (OPA) 4. “Smart Metering Entity” - means the corporation incorporated, the limited partnership or the partnership formed or the entity designated, pursuant to section 53.7, to accomplish the government’s smart metering initiative and is said to be part of the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO), 5. Ontario Energy Board and 6. “IESO” means the Independent Electricity System Operator under Part II - 5. Amalgamation of IESO and OPA.

Of course we can’t forget the renewable energy companies and their input into this. I’m surprised that Samsung, KEPCO (Korea Consortium) and/or Korea (South Korea) aren’t also included in this list, considering they have so much input into the FIT/ renewable energy projects and the contracts for the affiliations of the Korea Consortium. For now, though, let’s look at the entities included in the Electricity Act.

From the March 2016 Sunshine List: CEO of Ontario Power Generation earned nearly $1.2 million and could be paid a maximum of $1.9 million with a $3.8-million compensation package; Hydro One CEO is paid $4.4 million in salary and bonuses (newspaper articles). But good luck finding the salaries of the other entities”¦seems they’re buried very deep - funny that, isn’t it?

So what are the salaries plus benefits of the IESO and any of the other questionable entities created, amalgamated, de-amalgamated, re-incorporated, re-created with a different name/names under the Energy File? As it stands right now, only the NewDemo-Progressive-Con-Liberal Party can tell”¦so is this just part of electricity costs or a complete waste of money? Elizabeth F. Marshall Director of Research Ontario Landowners Association