Ontario Cutting Electricity Bills By 25%

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Premier Kathleen Wynne announced Thursday morning plans to lower electricity bills by 25% on average for all residential customers starting this summer.

In addition, under her plan many small businesses and farms would also benefit from the initiative, as well people with low incomes and those living in eligible rural communities would receive even greater reductions to their electricity bills.

As part of this plan, rate increases over the next four years would be held to the rate of inflation for everyone.

These measures include the 8% rebate introduced in January.

The government says that these changes will deliver the single-largest reduction to electricity rates in Ontario’s history.

“I have heard from people around the province who are worried about the price they are asked to pay for electricity and the impact it has on their household budget. Electricity is a necessity. By fixing problems in the system, we will be able to provide every residential customer in Ontario with an average 25 per cent off their bills now and make rates fairer in the future,” said Wynne.

Wynne blames the increased hydro rates on two factors including “decades of under-investment in the electricity system by governments of all stripes resulted in the need to invest more than $50 billion in generation, transmission and distribution assets to ensure the system is clean and reliable.”

She also says that the decision to eliminate Ontario’s use of coal and produce clean, renewable power, as well as policies put in place to provide targeted support to rural and low-income customers, have created additional costs.