TORONTO — The provincial government’s 2017 Long-Term Energy Plan released last month confirmed what many of us have been saying for months: Your hydro bill will increase significantly over the next decade.
The energy plan, released Oct. 26, says the average residential hydro bill will increase from $127 a month this year to $181 a month in 2027 and about $200 a month by 2030. That’s a whopping 57.5 per cent increase in the next 13 years.
These numbers are for the average residential household. Farmers with dairy barns, elevators or grain drying equipment will pay significantly more.
This is the first time the Liberals have released their projected numbers after cutting hydro bills by 25 per cent earlier this year after the Liberals kept falling in the polls and a provincial election looming in June, 2018. The 25 per cent discount was possible because the government refinanced $28 billion worth of loans for building and refurbishing power plants. That refinancing will cut overall costs by $2.5 billion a year for the next decade, but will add about $14 billion in interest costs over 30 years.
