Hydro sale will cost us: Critics Rate hikes coming

Toronto Sun - Friday, December 14, 2001
By Alan Findlay

Seniors, schools and hospitals will be among the hardest hit by skyrocketing electricity prices as Ontario
sells off its public power holdings, privatization critics say.

"The losers, unfortunately, are all Ontarians," Howard Levine, former Toronto Hydro commissioner and
member of the Ontario Electricity Coalition, said yesterday. "We're going to pay a horrible price for this."

Levine said seniors on fixed incomes and social services on limited budgets will be devastated by the
higher electricity rates to come.

MAKING HISTORY

The warnings come a day after Premier Mike Harris put Hydro One up for sale in what is expected to
be the largest privatization in Canadian history. The sale is expected to fetch up to $12 billion.

The provincially owned Hydro One includes the power lines and distribution system of Ontario's
electricity.

The province will soon announce the spring date for opening the power grid's generation and retailing
divisions to competition.

Critics of the power grid sale say Ontario is headed for soaring rates as Americans compete for the
province's power. But Energy Minister Jim Wilson said the Ontario Energy Board is mandated to
regulate prices and ensure rates don't skyrocket. "We expect that prices will be better than they were
under the old monopoly system we have now. We have tough, new regulators that weren't in place
under the old system."

Visit the Toronto Sun newspaper
Toronto website design