Despite Doug Ford's Promises Ontario Hydro Rates Are Still Going Up Before Winter

If you're a fan of being warm, having hot water, and having a money in the bank, you might not love this news. Ontario hydro rates are going up on November 1, and Ontarians can expect to pay about $2 more every month for their electricity. While the increase may seem small, it is indicative of a larger problem, which is the fact that hydro rates are not getting any lower. This is all despite the fact that Ontario Premier Doug Ford promised he would lower hydro rates.

According to CTV News, while Ford was campaigning in 2018 against Kathleen Wynne (who held the Premiership at the time), he promised that if he was elected, he would cut hydro rates in order to save Ontarians more money each year. The exact figure he provided in April 2018 was $173 a year. "I think that's a pretty good start," Ford said in 2018, "Putting $173 back in the taxpayer pocket."

CTV News explains that In March 2019, the provincial government promised to hold any hydro increases to the rate of inflation. According to the Canadian Press, the Ontario Energy Board said the new increases fall in line with inflation.

The Progressive Conservative government will also continue to subsidize hydro bills for Ontario residents, says Global News. The subsidization plan, essentially borrowing money to pay power producers the same rates while allowing customers to pay 25% less, was a program put in place by Ontario's former Liberal government, says CTV News.

"That was, as far as I'm concerned, the wrong thing to do," Ford said about the Liberal plan back in 2018, according to CTV News, "borrowing down the future and the only people who are going to pay for it is our children, our great-grandchildren."

With winter right around the corner, Ontarians are going to have to start turning on the heat in their homes, which will, of course, only drive their hydro bill even higher.

That's an unnerving thought, considering how expensive owning or even renting a home in Toronto is getting to be. That's not even mentioning the fact that the GTA is set to get some pretty serious snowfall before it's even November. 

Of course, they might also notice their hydro bill looking slightly different. That's because now, hydro bills will show the full, unsubsidized price, plus one line showing how much is taken off by the 25% "Total Ontario Support."

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