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Jones lashes out on hydro rates

April 24, 2013   ·   0 Comments

Dufferin-Caledon MPP Sylvia Jones recently spoke in the Ontario Legislature on behalf of Dufferin-Caledon residents against the continually increasing hydro rates in the province.
She charged they have more than doubled under the Liberal government since 2003.
“The number one issue I encounter in my constituency office is the affordability of hydro for families, businesses and manufacturers in Dufferin–Caledon,” Jones said. “Hydro rates have been steadily increasing because consumers are asked to pay for smart meters they never wanted, overpriced energy contracts they cannot afford, money-losing exports they cannot believe and a debt retirement charge that has already been collected.”
“That message was made clear to me at the recent Orangeville Lions Club Home and Garden Show,” she added. “At this year’s show, I received an overwhelming number of negative comments regarding the continuously increasing costs of hydro.”
Ontario’s Auditor General released a report later that day, confirming what Jones and the Ontario Progressive Conservative caucus have been saying all along — that the Liberal government has been hiding the true cost of the cancelled Mississauga gas plant from taxpayers.
Jones pointed to the Auditor-General’s report as further proof that the government is to blame for the unsustainable rise in hydro rates in Ontario.
“The public will have to pick up a $275-million bill created by the McGuinty-Wynne Liberals when they cancelled the Mississauga gas plant – $85 million more than the amount they originally claimed,” Jones declared. “These additional costs are an indictment of the Liberals’ cover-up and attempt to mislead taxpayers on this issue.”
“This is just one of the two canceled power plants,” Jones said. “We still have yet to see the report on the Oakville cancellation, which independent energy experts have estimated could cost over $800 million. One thing is clear, however: the McGuinty-Wynne Liberals clearly cannot be trusted with taxpayers’ money.”

         

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