TORONTO

Premier Kathleen Wynne’s plan to cut hydro bills by 25% comes with an electrifying price tag.

A review by Ontario Financial Accountability Officer Stephen LeClair says the minimum cost is $45 billion, but that number could soar to anywhere between $69 billion and $93 billion if the Fair Hydro Plan is financed with borrowed money.

In the best-case scenario, which requires the Ontario government to maintain a balanced budget over the next three decades, the plan costs $45 billion.

Once the 25% break on bills is factored in, Ontarians will pay a total of at least $21 billion more than they would have without the hydro rate reduction.

Energy Minister Glenn Thibeault said in a statement Wednesday that the plan means hydro customers will soon see relief from high bills.

“We’ve always said that the proposed Fair Hydro Plan will cost more over the long-term, but it will share the costs of our investments more fairly over a longer period of time, and lower bills by 25% on average, starting this summer,” Thibeault said. “The FAO’s analysis shows cost projections of $21 billion over 29 years for our plan, which is in line with earlier estimates.”

Wynne’s government announced the bold hydro plan after bills soared, leaving many ratepayers complaining that the cost was so high that it was getting difficult to pay for other priorities like food and rent.

The Wynne plan calls for an HST rebate, refinancing of electricity assets and the rejigging of hydro relief programs.

Ontario ratepayers would see about $24 billion shaved from their bills between 2017 and 2045, the FAO report says.

Under the plan, hydro rates decrease 25% on average this year, followed by four years of relatively low increases capped at inflation.

Wynne’s plan would cut the average eligible ratepayer’s monthly bill to $123.30 from the current $164 in 2017, a savings of $41.

In year five of the plan, bills start to rise again to help cover the cost of the plan.

“They’ll be going up almost 7% a year until about year 10, and then after that they’ll be about 12% higher than they otherwise would have been,” NDP Energy Critic Peter Tabuns said. “Not even future generations — people who are ratepayers right now are going to get hit hard starting five years from now and they’ll be hit hard for decades, quite literally.”

MPP Todd Smith, the energy critic for the Progressive Conservatives, called the Liberal plan “fantasy land.”

Predicated on balanced budgets and low interest rates, it’s a quick election fix for a Wynne government facing voters in 2018, he said.

“I think a lot of people are seeing through this for what it is; this is Kathleen Wynne’s re-election plan,” Smith said.

The FAO report noted significant financial risks in the plan because it’s based on the premise that the Ontario government can “achieve and maintain a balanced budget over 29 years.”

Since 1990, the Ontario budget has been balanced seven times — four times under the Progressive Conservatives and three times under the Liberals.

The FAO also questioned the government’s intention to borrow more than half of the money it needs through an Ontario Power Generation Trust which it says comes with an increased borrowing cost of $4 billion.