THUNDER BAY -- Ontario’s energy minister said it’s his belief the cost of the east-west transmission line will be borne by all Ontario ratepayers, not just those in the northern part of the province.
Bob Chiarelli was reacting on Wednesday to concerns raised at Monday’s Thunder Bay city council meeting that suggested the cost to build the line might be paid for by the companies using it.
“The east-west tie line is a work in progress and in fact, it’s my understanding that will be rate-based, paid by the consumers across the province,” he said, after a brief tour of Ontario’s Power Generation’s Burwood Road offices.
“Major transmission across the province is paid by customers across the province. That’s as it should be.”
Chiarelli added he wasn’t sure what council’s concern was.
“My understanding is that’s connected to the whole transmission system province-wide and it’s part of the provincial system.”
Chiarelli also wanted to clear up misunderstandings about residential power rates in Ontario, which he said are not nearly as bad as the public is led to believe.
"The average residential price is 10.1 cents per kilowatt hour. You'll hear the opposition and you'll see incorrect information occasionally saying that we have the highest electricity prices in North America, or whatver. We don't even have the highest prices in Canada, No. 1. And No. 2, there are a significant number of price mitigation measures that we've installed in Ontario over the last five to six years," Chiarelli said.
Those include a five-year, 10 per cent discount under the Clean Energy Benefit, a tax credit for northern residents and and the Northern Industrial Energy Rebate for large commercial energy users.
This has led to industrial energy rates that are the second or third lowest in North America.
Natural Resources Minister Bill Mauro said the program has worked and has been made permanent as a result
"It provides a very signficant level of support for our large industrial players in Northern Ontario. And on a go-forward basis they know they're going to have that subsidy for them on an annual basis. They don't have to worry about it on a three-year cycle as was the case previously. We now see where our mineral companies, our forestry companies are achieving one of the best rates for industrial rates in Ontario, certainly in Canada," Mauro said.
Chiarelli said he's convinced there will be enough energy available should more mines and large-scale energy users come online in the coming years.
