The Liberals' plan to cut hydro bills by 25% is ultimately good news to Ontario NDP leader Andrea Horwath, but she's taking it with a grain of salt.
The Toronto Star reports the Wynne government will finalize the move on Wednesday, after months of severe scrutiny for skyrocketing electricity costs.
Horwath tells BlackburnNews.com she hasn't seen the premier's plan, but people need relief.
"I'm certainly happy that people are going to see some relief because it is absolutely necessary," says Horwath, who also adds the savings need to come from making systemic changes.
"The government is not doing anything to change the underlying factors that have created such a mess in our electricity system. They're not changing time of use [electricity pricing]," Horwath says. "They're not getting rid of the unfair delivery charge for rural and small town Ontario. They're not dealing with the oversupply problem that we have, that's driving costs up on the Global Adjustment charge."
Horwath was in Chatham Wednesday morning to promote her own hydro plan. The NDP is looking at a 30% cost reduction by scrapping time of use pricing, and reducing the delivery charge for rural customers.
"Going to a single price and getting rid of that peak pricing, the single price would be 10.3 cents per kWh, as opposed to over 18 cents per kWh."
Horwath says customers who can't shift their electricity demand will see a 10% impact on their bills immediately by eliminating off-, mid- and on-peak rates. She predicts if that same customer lives in rural Ontario, they'll save another 15%, by reducing delivery charges to a flat rate.
"If the government wants to take our plan and run with it, I would be very, very happy," she says.
-With files from Natalia Vega
