{"id":8583,"date":"2025-11-12T12:35:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-12T15:35:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/2025\/11\/12\/critics-call-on-ford-government-to-address-rising-hydro-rates\/"},"modified":"2025-11-12T12:35:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-12T15:35:08","slug":"critics-call-on-ford-government-to-address-rising-hydro-rates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/2025\/11\/12\/critics-call-on-ford-government-to-address-rising-hydro-rates\/","title":{"rendered":"Critics call on Ford government to address rising hydro rates"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>TorontoCritics are calling on the Ford government to stop spending billions subsidizing hydro rates, and to instead find ways to reduce the cost of electricity across the province\u2019s grid after a 29 per cent rate hike took effect earlier this month. Electricity rates jumped by 29% earlier this monthShawn Jeffords  \u00b7 CBC News  \u00b7 Posted: Nov 12, 2025 4:00 AM EST | Last Updated: 6 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 6 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.As electricity rates go up in Ontario this month, one of several critics slamming the province\u2019s electricty rebate programs says they are simply the province redistributing taxpayers\u2019 money to hydro ratepayers. (Michael Wilson\/CBC)Critics are calling on the Ford government to stop spending billions subsidizing hydro rates, and to reduce the cost of electricity across the province\u2019s grid after a 29 per cent rate hike took effect earlier this month.The calls come after an increase in electricity costs was approved by the Ontario Energy Board. But the blow to consumers will be cushioned as Premier Doug Ford\u2019s government hikes the province\u2019s largest taxpayer-funded hydro rate subsidy to 23 per cent. That will see the province spend billions next year to bring down the cost of electricity for ratepayers.Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner said the province appears set to subsidize hydro for every Ontarian, regardless of whether they need it or not, rather than address the problem of sky-rocketing rates head-on.\u201cI want to know, why does Galen Weston get a subsidy on his electricity prices when this government says we don\u2019t have money for health care, we don\u2019t have money for housing, we don\u2019t have money for education?\u201d Schreiner said.Ontario Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner is criticizing the Ford government for subsidizing hydro rates for all ratepayers, regardless of income. (Alex Lupul\/CBC)The rate hike, which came into effect on Nov. 1, is due to larger than anticipated costs in the nuclear sector and higher spending on electricity conservation programs, says the Ontario Energy Board.The province began to subsidize the cost of electricity in 2017 under the previous Liberal government, at a time when prices had risen dramatically. Premier Doug Ford\u2019s government pledged to cut rates by 12 per cent when they took office in 2018 \u2014 a promise critics say he never fulfilled \u2014 while continuing the policy of annual multi-billion dollar ratepayer subsidies.Ontario to increase hydro subsidy to 23 per centThe government currently has nine different hydro subsidy programs, the largest of which is the Ontario Electricity Rebate. It provides money back to residential rate payers on their monthly bills, funded by Ontario taxpayers.That rebate jumped to 23 per cent earlier this month, up from 13 per cent, in conjunction with the latest rate hike.Based on calculations using figures by Ontario\u2019s Financial Accountability Office, the rebate increase will drive the province\u2019s annual cost up to over $8.5 billion, said Mark Winfield, a professor of environmental and urban change at York University.The province did not respond to CBC requests for clarification about the increased cost of the subsidy.Premier Doug Ford\u2019s government pledged to cut rates by 12 per cent when they took office in 2018. Critics say the promise remains unfulfilled. (Evan Mitsui\/CBC)But last week\u2019s Fall Economic Statement estimated that the cost of all of the various hydro subsidy programs was $6.5 billion for this fiscal year. That document also showed that Ontario has spent $18.2 billion on hydro subsidies since 2022-2023.\u201cThis is a non-trivial line item in the overall budget now,\u201d Winfield said. \u201cIt\u2019s taking revenues that could be used for more general purposes, say, health care or education, and, using it to effectively, artificially, lower people\u2019s hydro bills.\u201dHydro subsidies should be means tested, opposition saysNDP consumer protection critic Tom Rakocevic said the electricity rebate programs are simply the province redistributing taxpayers\u2019 money to hydro ratepayers. The program should be means-tested in order to ensure the subsidies reach Ontarians who need them most, he said.\u201cWhat this government is doing is very cynical, because they\u2019re going to try to position it [by] saying, \u2018we\u2019re saving you money,\u2019 but that\u2019s not the long-term solution,\u201d he said.Liberal MPP Ted Hsu accused Premier Doug Ford of breaking his promise to cut rates and trying to hide subsequent increases by spending billions on subsidies.\u201cHis system is now forcing a massive $6.5-billion hidden tax to cover the costs,\u201d he said. \u201cHe didn\u2019t deliver a cut; he engineered a colossal shell game to keep his broken promise from appearing on your bill.\u201dA spokesperson from Energy Minister Stephen Lecce blamed the policies of the previous Liberal government for the increased costs.\u201cAfter a decade of hydro hikes under the Liberals that cost working families and seniors an extra $1,000 a year, our government made a clear commitment: to keep energy rates stable and affordable,\u201d Chelsea McGee said in a statement. \u201cSince 2018, we\u2019ve delivered on just that \u2014 ensuring electricity rates have stayed near or below inflation.\u201dCritics call on Ford to revisit renewable energy projectsWinfield said the province is on an \u201cunsustainable path\u201d when it comes subsidizing electricity rates. And it\u2019s actively building higher-cost electricity generation into the system by pursuing its nuclear refurbishment plan, he added.\u201cThis translates into a higher bottom line and electricity bills,\u201d he said. \u201cAt the moment, the government is hiding that through the subsidization of the rates, but there\u2019s a limit to how much that can go on and we\u2019re probably somewhere near that limit now.\u201dWinfield said the legacy of the Liberal government\u2019s Green Energy Act, which subsidized renewable energy projects and drove up hydro rates, continues to loom large.\u201cWe\u2019re now in this strange position where the government appears to still suffer from this renewable energy allergy and doesn\u2019t seem to be able to move past it,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd indeed seems to be embedding pathways that almost make it impossible to go there, but [also] embedding enormous costs and enormous risks.\u201dJack Gibbons, of the Ontario Clean Air Alliance, opposes the nuclear and gas plant build-out of the province\u2019s hydro system. He too believes the Green Energy Act created a stigma in Ontario around renewables. It\u2019s time to let that go because renewables could drive down costs, he said.\u201cIt\u2019s true that Dalton McGuinty paid very high prices for wind and solar, and that drove up electricity rates and it created a huge backlash,\u201d Gibbons said. \u201cBut you know, Dalton McGuinty hasn\u2019t been premier for over 12 years, and in the last 12 years, thanks to technological progress, the cost of wind and solar has fallen dramatically.\u201dABOUT THE AUTHORShawn Jeffords is CBC Toronto\u2019s Municipal Affairs Reporter, but is currently covering the Ontario Legislature. He has previously covered Queen\u2019s Park for The Canadian Press. You can reach him by emailing shawn.jeffords@cbc.ca.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>TorontoCritics are calling on the Ford government to stop spending billions subsidizing hydro rates, and to instead find ways to reduce the cost of electricity across the province\u2019s grid after a 29 per cent rate hike took effect earlier this month. Electricity rates jumped by 29% earlier this monthShawn Jeffords \u00b7 CBC News \u00b7 Posted: [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8584,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[118,1047,1],"tags":[116,1046],"class_list":["post-8583","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-indigenous","category-ontario","category-uncategorized","tag-indigenous","tag-ontario"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8583","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8583"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8583\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8584"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8583"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8583"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8583"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}