Hydro Rates - Trillium Party

Electricity Pricing and Hydro Rates:

“…Electrical energy, once a luxury, has, in Ontario, been so reduced in costs that it has become a common commodity for the service of all. It is the power of the people, made usable for the people, by the people.”^[11]

The Trillium Party believes that Ontario produces excess hydro to the point of having to PAY OUR AMERICAN and PROVINCIAL neighbours to take it away for us. All the while our rates are continuing to be increased. This simply doesn’t make sense!

This has been caused in large part because of the extremely poor business contracts made regarding the wind/solar generation and FIT programs, with wind/solar power costs at approx., 83 cents per kw/hr, and with the government having made deals to pay EVEN IF WE DON’T USE THE POWER, that’s 24/7 paying for something that we don’t use.

In approximate numbers: Water generated hydro costs 2.5 cents per kw/hr, and Nuclear energy costs 4.5 cents per kw/hr.

Our homes need less expensive power and our manufacturers need less expensive power to keep jobs in Ontario.

The Green Energy Act will be repealed.

FIT contracts will be lawfully cancelled.

Any corporate monopolies created, that are not completely publicly owned and operated, will be cancelled as in violation of the law, unless it can be proven to be of greater benefit to the people of Ontario.

^[11] Hon. G. H. Challies. Ontario Legislative Assembly – Hansard Vol 4, 1946, p. 2007 – 2019

Those involved in any breaches of the trust or in violation of the provincial and/or federal law will be brought forward to the justice system for full investigation and charges will be laid to ensure public confidence in government.

There will be no payment for “stand-by” producers and they will only be paid when and for what they are producing.

There will be no charge created to “force people to conserve.” That is the individual’s decision and government is not to be in the business of indirectly taxing the people for use of energy/electricity.

Industrial wind turbines that effect neighboring property owners will be dismantled and/or decommissioned at the cost of the energy company.

All set-backs which over-lap someone else’s property will be considered as an expropriation and full, fair compensation shall be paid by the company.

Anyone can install private solar and small wind or water turbines for their own use, which does not affect others, and any extra electricity produced beyond the owner’s use can be fed back into the grid for credit or payment.

Candidate statements:

“The Trillium Party is the only party that has a plan for reducing hydro rates…It’s solid comprehensible and can be done”

“Cheap energy means good jobs… and above all else we need jobs; our families need security”

“The Liberals have made us the most expensive hydro in North America, Patrick Brown of the Pc’s has said that hydro rates will likely go up after he is elected. The Trillium Party says we can get back to the cheapest power in North America.”

“Energy Costs are the number one job killer in Ontario. Only the Trillium Party has a plan to STOP THE BLEEDING”

Opposition remarks:

Accusation: The Trillium Party can say whatever they want because they know that they won’t be in government.

Reply: “That’s exactly the type of arrogance that one would expect from a party that has been at the trough for too long. This election will hopefully fix that”

Accusation: (Liberal) “The Liberal Party is leading the way for a cleaner future, and building an energy infrastructure based on renewable resources is the foundation of that plan. The Trillium party wants to throw it all away”

Reply: “Turning down the generating capacity of the ultimate and cleanest energy generation — water powered hydro –and selling off the turbines, such as in Port Hope, is bordering on criminal hypocrisy. THE LIBERALS SHOULD BE ASHAMED”

Blogs from Trillium Party

(Elizabeth Marshall) Fair Hydro Plan that isn’t fair to Ontarians:

During Committee on the Liberal Fair Hydro Plan, to cut the cost of electricity pricing for 4 years to Ontarians, one of our Candidates made a presentation to the government committee on this Bill. Our Candidate brought in the fact that government was in violation of the purpose of the Electricity Act and was violating government’s fiduciary duty to the people of Ontario.

At the same Committee the Auditor General also did a presentation about the accounting principles that the government was going to be implementing which is not standard accounting principles that public entities should be using. The Auditor General now has a Special Report on the Fair Hydro Plan for the province of Ontario. From this report we have found:

The government has passed its own accounting rules to obfuscate the impact of their financial decisions;
The accounting rules that the province is using on this file are not actually in accordance with Canadian Public Sector Accounting Standards;
The accounting practices remove transparency and accountability;
The accounting practices are unnecessarily cost Ontarians billions of dollars.

According to the A.G.’s report – “The Ministry of Energy signed a contract, with a retainer of $500,000, to receive help from a law firm to provide search services and to compile emails before providing them to us. At the time we completed this Special Report, the Ministry had still not provided us with all of its emails, which we requested on May 31, 2017.”

The A.G’s Office does not question the government’s Policy Decision to reduce Ontarians’ electricity bills, but it has concerns that the intention, of government, was to avoid showing a deficit in the Province’s budgets and consolidated financial statements for 2017/18 to 2019/20, and to likewise show no increase in the Provincial net debt. The A.G. states that this action by government is incorrect and the planned financing structure could result in significant unnecessary costs for Ontarians.

The A.G.’s report states that ratepayer’s electricity bills will be lower than the cost of the electricity and that the power generation will still be owed at full cost. This means that the government will have to borrow to cover the debt created. The debt should become part of the deficit but government is not property accounting for the impact of this debt in the budget and is “not planning to account for it property in its future consolidated financial statements.” In her words ” government is making up its own accounting rules.” One would think this is so wrong on so many levels its almost criminal, wouldn’t they?

From the A.G.’s report: “According to the government’s current plan, the only electricity rate reduction lasting beyond 2027 will be a 9% reduction mainly from the HST rebate and other taxpayer-funded programs. From 2028 on, ratepayers will be charged more than the actual cost of the electricity being produced in order to pay back the borrowings. The total borrowings to be repaid will be an estimated $39.4 billion, made up of $18.4 billion borrowed to cover the current rate reduction shortfall and $21 billion in accumulated interest over the term of the borrowings.”

And based on the A.G’s numbers we will be on the hook for $4 billion more than is needed just because of this accounting scheme.

Is this FAIR? Obviously not…that is why the Trillium Party of Ontario is looking to strengthen the Auditor General’s Office so that this office can perform value-for-money audits and seek out government fraud.

The Trillium Party of Ontario – Something Different Something Way Better for Ontario!

Bill being introduced by MPP Jack MacLaren

Talking Points:

Ontario residents and businesses deserve to purchase electricity at the lowest price that it is offered to anyone in other provinces or in the U.S.A.
We will eliminate subsidies for non-reliable renewable electricity sources.

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The Bill directs the Minister of Energy to take steps to ensure that electricity is provided to consumers at the lowest possible price by taking a number of steps as follows:

Section (2) (a) requires that the highest priority is placed on ensuring that residents and businesses get electricity at the lowest possible cost by making maximum use of the extremely valuable electricity generation facilities that the public already owns and by establishing real transparency in the process that influence the price of electricity with a view to making it possible to reduce or eliminate unreasonable costs.

Section (2) (b) directs the Minister to take all possible steps to eliminate preferential treatment for high-costs non-reliable renewable electricity sources

Section (2) (c) directs the Minister to terminate the conservation subsidy programs that the Auditor General has confirmed have added significant costs to the electricity bill of businesses and residents in Ontario.

Section (2) (d) directs the minister to establish regulations to improve the efficiency and to reduce the costs of running the electricity grid and to ensure that cost reductions and the opportunities for future savings are passed on to electricity users.

Section (2) (e) aims to ensure that electricity prices are set in a rational way by preventing the lowering of prices now by pushing even higher payments which include additional interest costs into the future.

Section (2) (f) aims to have energy bills show the real effect on the price that consumers will have to pay for electricity in the future – and to tie those future prices to specific policies that have already been imposed by government to defer current costs, to add interest charges and to make consumers pay more in the future.

Section (2) (g) aims to have energy bills clearly identify the portion of current electricity bills that is caused by specific decisions by government that have burdened customers with higher electricity bills today – to cover the costs of arrangements made to hide past debts.

Section (2) (h) aims to ensure that the electricity system in Ontario is operated in a way that will provide maximum benefits to the citizens and businesses of Ontario – by modifying smart meters to allow customers to get minute-by-minute real time pricing and by ensuring that Ontario residents and businesses can purchase electricity at the lowest price that it is offered to anyone in other provinces or in the U.S.A.

Affordable Electricity Act, 2018

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The Affordable Electricity Act, 2018 is enacted. The Act imposes a duty on the Minister of Energy to ensure that residents and small businesses in Ontario have access to clean electricity at the lowest possible cost and sets out several requirements that must be met by December 31, 2018, in order for that duty to be fulfilled.

Bill 2018

An Act respecting affordable electricity

Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:

Duties of the Minister of Energy
(1) The Minister of Energy shall ensure that residents and small businesses in Ontario have access to clean electricity at the lowest possible cost.

Same
(2) In order to fulfil the duty under subsection (1), the Minister shall, by December 31, 2018,

(a) ensure that all regulations and policies that relate to the generation, transmission, distribution and sale of electricity in Ontario are amended to place the highest priority on minimizing the cost of electricity to customers, including by,

(i) requiring publicly owned water-powered and nuclear-powered generating stations to be used to maximum advantage,

(ii) ensuring that electricity that is distributed through the electricity distribution grid is supplied on the basis of competitive bids from all potential suppliers,

(iii) establishing full transparency in the electricity regulation process to ensure that all decisions that affect electricity pricing are open to public scrutiny and to ensure that electricity pricing is not subject to hidden interference by any government entity or any private party, and

(iv) requiring all pricing arrangements and payments between electric utilities and electricity suppliers to be made available to the public, including all cost agreements that relate to the funding of electricity suppliers for remaining on stand by and for refraining from putting electricity into the electricity distribution grid at times of surplus supply;

(b) eliminate all preferential treatment for new wind and solar electricity generation projects and terminate all existing subsidies for wind and solar electricity generation projects at the earliest possible opportunity;

(d) establish procedures to ensure that the electricity distribution grid is regulated in a way that provides maximum benefit to electricity customers in Ontario by,

(i) requiring the grid to be maintained in an efficient state to serve all customers,

(ii) ensuring that the costs for maintaining and operating the grid are reduced to levels that are comparable with costs in the most cost-effective private operations,

(iii) requiring all costs associated with operating the grid to be open to public scrutiny,

(iv) ensuring that electricity customers receive the full benefit of cost savings that arise from more cost-effective management of the grid,

(v) removing every restriction that limits the ability of a potential supplier of electricity to use the grid to transport electricity to any willing customer, and

(vi) ensuring that the cost that is charged for the use of the grid is proportional to the actual cost of providing the service;

(e) prohibit any measure that results in electricity prices being artificially lowered by borrowing money today that must be paid back in the future;

(f) require all electricity bills to itemize the amount of deferred costs that customers will have to pay in the future as a result of the Ontario Fair Hydro Plan Act, 2017 and all other Ontario Acts, regulations or policies;

(g) require all electricity bills to itemize the portion of the bill that deals with the repayment of sunk costs and to identify the Act that requires such repayment and the year the requirement came into force; and

(h) ensure that surplus electricity generated in Ontario is made available to Ontario customers on a first priority basis, and that customers in Ontario can purchase that surplus electricity at the lowest rate at which it is being offered to customers in neighbouring provinces or neighbouring states of the United States of America, by,

(i) modifying metering systems to allow electricity customers to take advantage of the actual costs of production at any particular instant, including at times when users are paid to take surplus electricity out of the grid,

(ii) conducting a study to identify other ways to allow Ontario residents to benefit immediately from more efficient use of the electricity system, and

(iii) implementing regulatory and policy changes to ensure that customers benefit from reduced costs that result from more efficient use of the electricity system.

Commencement

2. This Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.

Short title
3. The short title of this Act is the Affordable Electricity Act, 2018.