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John Yakabuski, official opposition energy critic for the Progressive Conservatives, called the changes a “shell game.”

“Everything that this government has done over the last 12 years, whether it be by policy changes or by scandals and fiascoes, has sent electricity rates and hydro bills throughout Ontario through the roof,” he told the National Post.

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said bills will go up for everyone, including low-income residents, because of the end of the Clean Energy Benefit and because the Liberals plan to privatize part of Hydro One.

“These things are going to cause rates to go up, not down,” Horwath said. “The government is playing a game here, and I don’t think the people of Ontario are going to buy it.”

The NDP also said electricity rates in Ontario have soared by 325 per cent since 2002, and are expected to climb another 40 per cent in the next few years.

“It’s not surprising that rates are going up,” energy analyst Tom Adams said of Thursday’s announcement. “Customers are used to this because they’ve been going up very steadily for years, especially since 2009.”

He also cautioned that even before the new prices come into effect in 2016, there will be two other price hikes in May and November adjusting the time-of-use rates regulating how much electricity costs at peak and off-peak hours.

“Your power bill has a lot of moving parts, and they’re all moving up,” he said.

It’s all part of what Adams describes as the “trainwreck” of Ontario’s energy sector, which is hopelessly opaque, complicated and spread out across numerous crown corporations, public and private utilities, and dozens of municipal distribution companies.