Ontario residents will see a 10 per cent rebate on electricity costs for the next five years, starting January 2011, the province announced on Nov. 18.

The Ontario Clean Energy Benefit is intended to help Ontarians cope with rising hydro costs, Sudbury MPP Rick Bartolucci stated in a press release. 

"This is more than the provincial portion of the HST and will help the average family save more than $100 per year in hydro costs," he added. 

However, while making the announcement at Queen's Park on Nov. 18, Finance Minister Dwight Duncan said electricity prices will continue to go up over the next five years — higher than the 10 per cent rebate — as Ontario phases out coal-burning plants and invests the more expensive green energy.

Ontario NDP leader Andrea Horwath said in a press release that the hydro benefit doesn't go far enough to help citizens. 

“People realize they are paying a lot more for hydro and will pay even more in the future. They want a permanent break on their bills like the one New Democrats have proposed, but that’s not what the McGuinty Liberals are doing. Their so-called benefit is a temporary solution with an expiry date.” 

Horwath pointed out that McGuinty is cutting hydro bills by 10 per cent over the next five years, just five months after applying the HST on the same bills.

“Charging the HST on hydro is just plain wrong. But rather than doing the right thing and taking the HST off hydro, the McGuinty government will now be giving with one hand, while taking with the other,” she said.

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business put out a press release saying that the announcement provides small businesses “with some much-needed relief from riding hydro bills.” 

“It's clear the worry and frustration being expressed by our members over escalating energy costs is being heard by Queen's Park,” Satinder Chera, CFIB's Ontario vice-president, said in the press release. 

“While today's announcement is not a permanent solution to rising hydro costs, we are pleased to see the government acknowledging the impact of its energy policies on the province's job creators.”

northernlife.ca