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Photo by Antonella Artuso/Toronto Sun

“We know that the cost of electricity is going to spike after the next election and this document shows that,” Smith said. “They’re not doing anything to actually take costs out of the system.”

NDP MPP Peter Tabuns said the report, titled ‘Delivering Fairness and Choice,’ is more politics than plan.

“This is written for the election – this is not a planning document,” he said.

The Conservatives and the NDP have criticized “every aspect” of the government’s handling of the energy file, but offered very little in terms off their own plans, Thibeault said.

“The Conservatives would take us down a road where we would spend millions of dollars on legal fees to tear up contracts and dial back on money – and energy-saving conservation programs,” the minister said. “The NDP oppose nuclear power … and would like to spend $10 billion to nationalize Hydro One.”

The Kathleen Wynne government sold off a majority share in the previously 100% publicly owned Hydro One. The utility has since gone on to buy a U.S. coal plant, without a peep from the Wynne government, even as the Long-Term Energy Plan brags about getting out of coal in Ontario, Tabuns said.

Long-term energy plans are critical tools for the electricity system, estimating how much power will be needed going forward.

However, they’re not always bang on when it comes to predictions.

As Thibeault noted, previous plans projected higher electricity costs and consumption than is now expected.

The 2007 version did not anticipate the dramatic downturn in electricity use due to the 2008-09 recession that killed manufacturing jobs across the province.

The 2010 long-term plan stated that the province’s Green Energy Act would create 50,000 new jobs and that by 2020, about one in 20 cars on the road would be electric – and neither goal is in sight.

ESTIMATED MONTHLY HYDRO BILLS

(based on average 750 kWh)

2017: $127

2018: $123

2019: $125

2020: $128

2021: $132

2022: $142

2023: $152

2024: $164

2025: $171

2026: $176

2027: $181

2028: $186

(Source: Ontario Long-term Energy Plan 2017)