Wynne’s hydro-rate cut to kick in on Canada Day

The full impact of Premier Kathleen Wynne’s controversial 25-per-cent hydro-rate cut will kick in July1, after the Ontario Energy Board approved some final changes Thursday.

That means the average monthly bill will have dropped about $41 this year, to $121, including the 8-per-cent HST rebate on electricity bills that took effect in January and other measures in place since May 1, the board said.

Energy Minister Glenn Thibeault touted the price break as “real and significant relief” for Ontarians who have been hit hard by rising electricity costs as the system has been improved over the past decade.

Opposition parties have been highly critical of the plan as short-term gain for long-term pain because of the billions in extra costs to amortize those improvement costs over the next three decades.

Premier Kathleen Wynne has compared it to extending a mortgage to get lower monthly payments now.

The province’s independent Financial Accountability Office issued a report in May that found the government’s “Fair Hydro Plan” will cost the province $45 billion over the next 29 years while saving ratepayers $24 billion, for a net expense of $21 billion. Under the changes, timeof-use electricity prices will drop July 1 to 13.2 cents per kilowatt hour, down from18.5 cents for peak pricing periods. For off-peak hours — after 7 p.m., weekends and holidays — the price drops to 6.5 cents from 9.1.

Wynne has promised to keep hydro rate increases to no more than 2 per cent a year for the next four years, getting the government past next June’s provincial election.

But the Progressive Conservatives have warned hydro prices will rise more sharply after the four-year promise of limited increases is over.

More will be known about the future direction of hydro rates when the government releases its longterm energy plan.