A responsible approach to electricity pricing, for a change - Energy Minister Duncan announces principles that will guide plan

News release, Ontario Government, November 3, 2003

QUEEN'S PARK, Nov. 3 /CNW/ - Energy Minister Dwight Duncan today announced the principles that will guide him as he drafts a plan for a responsible approach to electricity pricing, for a change. "The $5.6 billion Tory deficit threatens the education and health care systems we were elected to improve. It is a threat to Ontario families and the services they depend on," Minister Duncan said. "As Premier McGuinty has said, the Tories' electricity price freeze is contributing to the $5.6-billion Tory deficit at a rate of hundreds of millions of dollars. We need a responsible approach to electricity pricing, for a change."

Minister Duncan outlined five principles that will guide the preparation of a plan to be presented to Cabinet:

1. The price of electricity must better reflect the true cost of electricity. The current frozen price of 4.3 cents per kilowatt hour is not sustainable, not when we face a $5.6-billion Tory deficit.

2. The price will be regulated. We are not going back to the chaos and price spikes that residential and low-volume consumers saw under the Tory spot market.

3. We will have stable and predictable pricing, so families, small businesses and other low-volume consumers can better manage their energy costs.

4. The price will be regulated by an independent body, not by politicians.

5. The price is to be regulated on the basis of what is in the public interest - not political interests.

"We are delivering on our commitment to deliver fiscal responsibility, for a change, because that is crucial to our ability to deliver on our plan for real, positive change in our schools, health care and communities," Minister Duncan said.

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