Doug Ford’s claim that Hydro One customers are on the hook for $50 million in potential severance payouts to American executives in the takeover of U.S. energy company Avista Corp. is a “flat out lie,” says Energy Minister Glenn Thibeault.

The Progressive Conservative leader said Friday that Hydro One’s $6.7-billion deal to buy Avista includes “golden parachutes” for 13 executives at Avista if they are fired without cause, but wouldn’t say whether he would axe the deal if elected premier June 7.

Details of the severance terms are in public securities filings for the transaction with Avista, based in Spokane, Wash.

“This makes my blood boil,” Ford told a news conference Friday, sidestepping questions on what he would do about the severance and the broader deal with Avista, which is going through a lengthy approvals process in several states.

“We’re going to let the new board make that decision,” he said, referring to an earlier promise to replace the board of directors at Hydro One, of which the government owns a 47-per-cent stake after a partial privatization by Premier Kathleen Wynne.

“The first thing I’m going to do is fire the six-million-dollar man, replace the board, and put a board in there that can make the proper decisions,” he added, singling out Hydro One chief executive Mayo Schmidt, who earns $6.2 million a year in total compensation and would be entitled to $10.7 million in severance if he is fired without cause should the board be replaced.

Speaking for the Liberal government, Thibeault said “Hydro One customers have not paid one penny to U.S. hydro executives at Avista. Nor will they in future” and noted Avista earned a profit of $115 million (U.S.) last year.

“Salaries and severance payments do not come from Hydro One customers,” Thibeault added in a statement. “Doug Ford doesn’t seem to know what he’s talking about, which is troubling from a self-described sound businessman. Either that or he’s deliberately misleading people.”

Ford’s office later challenged Thibeault’s argument, accusing him of lying and saying the deal will reduce provincial ownership to 42 per cent with a resulting loss in dividends for provincial coffers.

“Ontario is paying $6.7 billion for this company and all the severances that come with this deal.”

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath, who has promised to bring Hydro One back under full government control by buying back shares over a period of years, called Ford’s concerns about Avista severance “hollow bellowing.”

Ford said it’s “just not right” to agree to pay up to $50 million at Avista while many Ontarians are “struggling” with their own hydro bills.

“In Sudbury … 600 people have notices to turn their hydro off …. That’s unacceptable.”

Hydro One said it does not send disconnection notices to any customers for non-payment until the weather is warmer in mid-June, and that the 600 notices were sent by the local utility in Sudbury.

The Avista takeover is expected to close later this year, with applications for regulatory approval pending with state utility commissions in Washington, Idaho, Oregon, Montana and Alaska.

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Hydro One said approvals must also be granted by the Federal Communications Commission and the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States. The deal received antitrust clearance in April and approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in January. Other closing conditions must also be met.

Thibeault said the deal to purchase Avista will benefit Ontarians by making Hydro One more profitable, but critics have warned it could create more financial risk and note Avista owns a coal-fired power plant. The Liberal government has boasted about closing this kind of plant in this province to reduce pollution and gases causing climate change.

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