Ontario needs a complete overhaul of our electricity system if costs are going to go down.
Phillip Glass is the author of a report for the Fraser Institute and says the only way to bring hydro costs down is to involve the private sector.
“The real problem is that as long as costs remain high, you can raise the price, which shifts the burden to ratepayers…you can lower the price, which shifts the burden to taxpayers, but at the end of the day, nothing is going to fix the Ontario hydro system until we lower costs,” states Glass.
“This has been going on for three decades. It’s time to end this nonsense. It’s not a matter of any one government having botched this. The NDP had a kick at the can, the Liberals, the Conservatives. They’ve all proven they can’t manage this, so we’re going to have to go in a different direction to fix this.”
Glass says the private sector is good at lowering costs, which is the only way electricity costs are going to go down.
He adds that much of the increase in electricity rates can be blamed on the Global Adjustment Rate, renewable energy contracts and the soaring cost to refurbish our nuclear plants.