TORONTO — Ontario's financial watchdog is set to release a report today on hydro bills and subsidy programs.
The Financial Accountability Office will look at how the government plans to lower bills by 12 per cent.
Soaring hydro prices was a major issue in the last provincial election, even after the former Liberal government introduced a so-called Fair Hydro Plan to lower time-of-use rates by 25 per cent.
Premier Doug Ford's Progressive Conservatives promised during the 2018 election to further lower electricity bills by 12 per cent.
The FAO report will also look at the cost of changes to subsidy programs since the introduction in 2017 of the Fair Hydro Plan, which saw a new entity controlled by Ontario Power Generation take on debt to fund the bill reduction.
The cost of paying back that debt, which would have been up to $28 billion under the Liberal plans, was to go back onto ratepayers' bills for the next 20 years, keeping the costs of the plan off government books.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 16, 2022.
The Canadian Press
