Affordable Hydro

 

Reliable and Affordable Hydro

publicpower means electricity is an essential public service that must remain in public hands and be available to all at a predictable, regulated, affordable, power-at-cost rate.

As we've seen around the world, from California to New Zealand, to Alberta, hydro privatization and deregulation has been a disaster. Private hydro always costs more.

Conservatives: The Conservatives' scheme to sell off our hydro to the private sector has been a disaster, mirroring the experience everywhere in the world that deregulation and privatization have been tried.

They passed the Energy Competition Act in 1998. Deregulation began May 1, 2002 and consumers saw their bills double, as the NDP warned they would.

On November 11, 2002 Ernie Eves introduced a phony rate cap to hide the true cost of deregulation from the public until after the next election. To date, maintaining the 4.3-cent rate cap has cost Ontario consumers $1.3 billion in hidden costs and has added $480 million to the hydro debt in just 11 months.

Meanwhile, hydro deregulation, the policy that caused skyrocketing rates in the first place, is very much in place. Once the rate caps are lifted (sooner rather than later, we think) consumers will once again be stung by sky-high rates.

In a very expensive way, the hydro rate cap, supported by the Liberals, masks a bigger problem: deregulation and privatization still exist for both Conservatives and Liberals. Both continue to accept money from the private hydro companies that stand to benefit from privatization and deregulation.

Conservatives flip-flopped and said they would not sell Hydro One, but the law allowing them to sell it is still in place and all signs indicate Hydro One could be up for sale again. The Conservative budget projects $2.2 billion of privatization to occur within the year.

They sold a long term lease on Bruce Nuclear Generating Station to British Energy which later went bankrupt. According to the Provincial Auditor's report, the public lost as much as $1 billion on the deal.

The Conservatives said there would be no hydro supply problem. Now they say they'll ring Toronto with pollution spewing diesel generators to ensure an adequate supply of power this summer.

They have no effective conservation or efficiency strategies. They allow coal-fired generators to burn full out for longer periods of time and create more smog.

Liberals: The Liberals have flip-flopped so often on hydro, no one can say where they stand or trust what they say about it. Dalton McGuinty supported, then opposed, the privatization of Hydro One. He flip-flopped on hydro generation.

The McGuinty Liberals voted in favour of the Energy Competition Act (1998) at second reading.

Liberals support the phony Conservative rate cap and the ever-increasing cost of maintaining the freeze in a still deregulated hydro system.

The Liberals sent out letters asking corporations for money on Dalton McGunity's pledge of support for hydro privatization and deregulation.

After announcing Liberals were in favour of competition, they held a $350 a ticket event in November 2001 to raise money from the electricity sector. On November 11, 2002 Liberals sent out another letter to Bay Street seeking corporate donations of $750.

NDP: Howard Hampton and the NDP have been clear, strong and consistent supporters of Ontario's public power system.

Howard Hampton and the NDP will keep our hydro in public hands and immediately end hydro privatization and deregulation by returning Ontario to a non-profit system of public power at cost. That means commission takers, profit takers and fee takers will no longer be adding their charges to your bill. Hampton's Accountable Public Power plan would create a proactive, accountable and responsive Public Utilities Commission.

publicpower means investing in green and renewable energy and developing aggressive energy efficiency and conservation programs to save consumers money and reduce energy demand. We'll create Efficiency Ontario, an office devoted to money-saving and energy-saving strategies. Efficiency Ontario will allow you to pay for all new appliances, windows and doors, out of the savings you earn from using less hydro. You pay over time from savings on your public hydro bill so you don't even feel it. After that, the money you save goes directly back into your pocketbook.

The NDP will shut down Ontario's coal-fired hydro generating by 2007 and will put an immediate moratorium on new nuclear power stations. The power will be replaced with an aggressive conservation program, renewable power and other publicpower solutions like natural gas-fired stations. Hampton's new book, "Public Power: The Fight for Publicly Owned Electricity", glowingly reviewed in the Globe and Mail, is a recommended must-read for all hydro consumers, says a leading Canadian consumer advocacy group.

Howard Hampton and the NDP will guarantee by law that by the year 2010 at least 10 per cent and, by 2020, at least 20 per cent of our electricity will be produced from renewable, environmentally friendly sources. Only a non-profit public power system, as outlined in Hampton's book, will bring Ontarians the reliable, affordable, clean and efficient electricity they want, and the aggressive conservation strategies that are the way of the 21st century.

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