The hit on electricity bills from the $1.1 billion scandal over gas-fired power plants scrapped before the 2011 election will be $2.01 annually over 20 years, Energy Minister Bob Chiarelli said Thursday.

“It’s less than a Tim Horton’s cup of coffee a year,” he told reporters after coming under fire in the legislature’s daily question period over rising electricity prices in his long-term energy plan.

That set off a firestorm among opposition parties, which accuse the Liberal government of scrapping the plants opposed by residents of Mississauga and Oakville to save the seats of area Liberal MPPs in the 2011 election.

“By their logic they might as well go out and blow another billion dollars tomorrow,” said Progressive Conservative energy critic Lisa MacLeod (Nepean—Carleton), calling the claim “disingenuous.”

“It’s simply outrageous.”

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said the debacle over the plants — which are being relocated to Sarnia and Napanee — is proof that major deals with private power companies are a bad idea.

“Whether you liken the gas plants scandal to the cost of a cup of coffee or not, the fact of the matter is it’s over a billion dollars of hard-earned ratepayers’ dollars,” she said.

“That could well have been used in other parts of the system and instead was used to basically save Liberal seats. It’s a disgrace and I think people will see it that way.”

Chiarelli’s claims are adding insult to injury after his long-term energy plan released Monday predicted household electricity bills would go up 42 per cent in the next five years, Horwath added.

That means a bill of $125 monthly now will rise to $178 despite the government’s moves to suspend plans for two new nuclear reactors at Darlington and cut the cost of renewable energy, measures that will save about $20 billion.

“People are pretty outraged by the power bills that they’re paying now . . . and knowing that they’re going to go up at such as steep rate for the next number of years is very worrisome,” said Horwath.

Chiarelli said opposition parties are attacking the $2 yearly figure for the relocated power plants, provided by the Ontario Power Authority at a legislative committee hearing Thursday, because of sour grapes. Some of the costs have already been covered by taxpayers.

“They don’t like the answer, they don’t like the number because they’ve been crying doom and gloom over the impact on prices” of the gas plant cancellations.

The cost of the new plants will be on electricity bills once they start producing power in a few years and remain while the plants are in service for about two decades.

“It’s over 20 years. It’s a minuscule percentage and it’s less than a Tim Horton’s cup of coffee a year.”

MacLeod said that is “little solace” to ratepayers.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

Clarification - December 10, 2013: This article was edited from a previous version that included an incorrect reference to a $2 monthly figure. In fact, as stated in the article and headline, there will be a $2 per year increase to hydro bills.

Read more about: