Toronto

Revenge, they say, is a dish best served cold.

In her annual report released Wednesday, auditor general Bonnie Lysyk serves up a heaping helping of cold, hard facts — enough to make Energy Minister Bob Chiarelli squirm.

Lysyk, you’ll recall, delivered a scathing report on smart meters in 2014. Chiarelli’s response was to condescendingly suggest she didn’t know what she was talking about.

Hydro was complicated, he said. What do girls know about it?

Turns out Lysyk knows plenty. She worked for Manitoba Hydro for 10 years.

In her most recent report, she went to town again on the province’s botched electricity system.

Not only did she point out how the Liberal governments of Dalton McGuinty and Kathleen Wynne have mismanaged the generation system — and sent costs skyrocketing. Lysyk doubled down on her criticism of Hydro One — the giant utility Wynne’s government recently put up for sale.

It’s clear the Liberals’ Green Energy Act (GEA) has been a massive, costly flop. Consumers have paid $9.2 billion more for renewable energy than we would have under the program in place prior to 2009.

You know that, of course. You see it every time you open your electricity bill.

But did you know we have enough extra hydro to power the entire province of Nova Scotia for five years? We sell that oversupply to neighbouring jurisdictions we compete against for manufacturing jobs. And we sell it at a loss, Lysyk said.

You think your energy bills are high now? You ain’t seen nothing yet. More expensive solar and wind plants are in the works.

Hydro One is an even bigger mess. You wonder why anyone would want to invest in a company that appears to have been run into the ground under high-priced public ownership.

It’s one of the least reliable transmission systems in the country. Meanwhile, costs have increased.

We’re paying plenty for electricity these days. Check your bills. For all that money we’re putting into distribution, we deserve better. We deserve a safe, reliable system.

Even more troubling is a comment from the auditor that Hydro One isn’t clearing vegetation from around its transmission lines.

What caused the massive blackout across eastern parts of Canada and the U.S. in 2003? It was a fallen tree branch on a line in Ohio. That privatized utility was slammed for causing mayhem back then.

“The Wynne Liberals often went directly against the advice of experts, ignoring the long-term impact on Ontario’s electricity system and its ratepayers for its own short-term political gain,” PC critic John Yakabuski told reporters.

The transmission system is an accident waiting to happen.

Chiarelli seemed to use this scathing indictment of bad management at Hydro One as a justification for selling off the company.

“Hydro One can be a better managed, better-run company that provides better value for consumers,” he told reporters.

Too bad his government didn’t realize that a decade ago, instead of paying massive salaries to the top brass at Hydro One to drive it into the ground.

You’re paying a premium price for hydro and getting the worst service.

Lysyk’s report is not so much a stake through the heart for Chiarelli as a carefully placed stiletto heel in his rear end.

It sheds light on some dark corners of the electricity system.

Revenge is sweet.

Lower hydro bills and a reliable system would be sweeter.

I can dream.

FACTS ABOUT ELECTRICITY IN ONTARIO FROM AUDITOR’S REPORT:

Between 2004-2014, residential and small business consumers’ electricity bills soared by 80%, from 5.02 cents/kWh to 9.06 cents/kWh.

Electricity consumers have paid $9.2 billion (the IESO says that number is closer to $5.3 billion) more for renewable sources of energy, such as wind and solar, than it would have paid under the previous program.

Ontario currently has an oversupply of electricity. From 2009-2014, the province’s available electricity supply exceeded its maximum hourly consumption by 5,160 MW per year.

From 2009-2014, Ontario exported a total of 95.1 mWh of power to other jurisdictions. The total cost of producing this power was about $3.1 billion more than the revenue the province received for exporting it.

The IESO forecasts the province’s baseload generation of electricity from 2015-20 will exceed its maximum demand by a total of 52.3 million mWh — enough to power the entire province of Nova Scotia for about five years.

The Ontario Energy Board — the organization that protects consumer interests — was not consulted on the privatization of Hydro One.

Significant Hydro One transmission assets are beyond their expected service life, yet are still in use.

Hydro One’s distribution system has consistently been one of the least reliable among large Canadian electricity distributors.

christina.blizzard@sunmedia.ca

(Mobile-friendly link to audit report coverage)