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In a debate in the legislature last fall on the government’s plans to phase out coal plants and shift to renewable energy, Wildrose MLA Derek Fildebrandt recalled a friend from high school who jumped in a shopping cart and went careening down a hill.

It didn’t end well for the friend who, unsurprisingly, was hurt.

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That was enough to teach Fildebrandt that careening down hills in shopping carts is a bad idea. On green energy, he said, Alberta should learn a similar lesson.

“Right now, Ontario is our friend, and Ontario just went down a hill,” Fildebrandt said. “We should not follow the example of Ontario.”

Fildebrandt’s metaphor isn’t too off-base. A 2015 report from the Ontario auditor general about the green energy program does resemble something like a grisly shopping cart crash.

According to the auditor general, consumers have paid $37 billion in extra costs since the program started in 2006. Ontario residents can expect to pay another $133 billion in extra costs between 2015 and 2032.