Too little, too late.

That’s what both opposition parties are saying about a contrite speech delivered Friday by Energy Minister Glenn Thibeault on the Liberal government’s controversial Green Energy Act. Thibeault told an audience at the Economic Club of Canada in Ottawa that he was there to address the “elephant in the room.” He went on to admit that the government’s green energy policies have contributed to sky-rocketing hydro costs across the province.

The Green Energy Act, introduced in 2009, was intended to expand Ontario’s use of renewable energy like wind, solar and biomass as way to fight climate change. Under the act, the province signed rich fixed term contracts with energy producers. That in turn, drove up costs, Thibeault acknowledged.

“We removed competition within the electricity sector and offered an attractive, standard-offer rate to developers of large, utility-scale wind and solar installations,” Thibeault said. “This made sense at the time, and we drove significant investment in the Province. We now know that competitive tension within and among renewable energy developers could lead to much more attractive pricing. As they say, hindsight is 20-20.”

Not good enough, said NDP Leader Andrea Horwath, Friday morning after delivering a speech to the Toronto Region Board of Trade. She called Thibeault’s mea cupla, “crocodile tears.”

“Too bad, so sad,” she said. “Look, they have made so many mistakes in the energy system. They’ve created prices people can’t afford. People are making choices between putting food on their table and paying their hydro bills. All of this is the result of Liberal government decisions over the last decade.”

Worse, Horwath said, the Green Energy Act has made skeptics of people across the province who now look suspiciously on all renewable projects.

“They can say I’m sorry, but I’m sorry is not good enough,” she said. “They’ve made an absolute mess of our electricity system and while they’ve done so they’ve created this negative pall around renewable energy, which is shameful.”

Progressive Conservative energy critic Todd Smith said Thibeault’s speech an admission cloaked in “flowerly language.” He summed up the Green Energy Act more bluntly, calling it an “incredible disaster.”

“It seems like finally, after all of the criticism that we’ve put forward, that the government is starting to realize perhaps they have bungled the energy system.”

Smith said the act has turned neighbour against neighbour in some cases, as some made money off the wind and solar projects while other fought against them. Community groups spent hundreds of thousands fighting the province over the issue, he added.

“The admission seems a little bit desperate, given the timing and the fact that we’re a year out from an election,” he said.

sjeffords@postmedia.com