One of the biggest complaints that the majority of homeowners have in Ontario at the moment is the high cost of Hydro. While in the past a lot of people have been looking at the green alternatives with the priority being on saving the environment, many more are now looking at these alternatives simply because they can’t handle the high cost of the electricity that they are being hit with.
To find the answer as to why the costs are so high it means taking a look back at the history of the Liberals when it comes to this commodity. This means going back to looking at 2003 when there was no doubt that the Hydro situation was in great need of repair.
In 2007 the Liberal government was able to put an end to the coal firing for the generation of electricity but they didn’t do this with the use of wind and solar power. Instead they made the decision to focus on nuclear power and natural gas. This only served to begin the escalation of the cost of Hydro.
If one were to compare their bills for Hydro over the years they would find that from 2000 up to 2014 that they have realized an increase of 80%. With the latest increase this is most evident that there is not going to be any changes to the soaring costs of Hydro anytime soon.
The crux of the problem seems to be in the Liberals handling of the promotion of green energy. The problem is that much of the planning and following of regulations were put on the back burner as the Minister of Energy was allowed to supersede these in the hopes to expedite the development of renewable energy.
The lack of proper planning in anything as serious or with the magnitude as what the provision of Hydro provides is ludicrous. One of the biggest focuses on the energy situation was the installation of the Smart Meter program that came in at a cost of almost $2 billion. This was a double what the Liberals have estimated the cost would be. Unfortunately this was not well planned out either as there was no cost-benefit analysis conducted. Other areas who were looking at the feasibility of the Smart Meters did their due diligence by doing their studies first.
The annual reports that were conducted on Hydro with the last one being in 2015 it was again brought to the attention of the Liberals that there was a lack of due diligence. So the solution is going to be quite complex but should be started with the proper planning and analysis done before the government jumps any further as to what is going to help bring the cost of Hydro into an acceptable level.
