Energy Minister Bob Chiarelli has announced what has to called a complicated series of reductions and increases in Ontario hydro rates. His best bet it seems from all of this is that homeowners will pay as much as $120 moire a year for power. This results largely from the Liberal government’s decision to eliminate the Clean Energy Benefit, which provided an average monthly reduction of $17 a month. “We are expecting (hydro) to go up less than $10 a month,” Mr. Chiarelli acknowledged to reporters after announcing two other moves to cut costs for customers, the elimination of a debt retirement charge and a new program to cut prices for low-income families. Chiarelli said the proposed Ontario Electricity Support Program will slash the monthly electricity rate for a low-income family by $20 to $50 a month. Under the plan, a family of four with an annual income of less than $28,000 would be eligible for a $38 monthly credit for a total of $456 per year. “It a shell game,” said Tory energy critic John Yakabuski.“No one is arguing that low-income families don’t need a break but what this government doesn’t understand is that the cost of electricity is becoming unaffordable for everyone,” Yakabuski said.
