Tom Adams
National Post Business Magazine
March 4, 2003

Re "Lifecycle: Electricity Deregulation," January 2003, National Post Business Magazine

Your graph, showing Ontario’s wholesale electricity prices since 1993, makes a common mistake in claiming that the cost of power following the NDP’s rate freeze was 4.3 cents per kilowatt-hour. Your graph appears to be referring to ordinary small customers. Under the NDP/Tory rate freeze from January 1994 until April 2002, ordinary small customers paid about 5.3 cents for the same basket of services reflected in the new frozen commodity price of power of 4.3 cents.

The old Hydro borrowed heavily to pay its bills while collecting 5.3 cents from households. As they decry the extent of our historic Hydro debts, our politicians have again frozen rates, but at a lower rate than in the ’90s. Meanwhile, our leaders have opened up the throttle for new taxpayer-backed Hydro projects. Our kids will pick up the tab.

Tom Adams
Executive Director, Energy Probe