Wynne open to add global adjustment charge as line on hydro bill

TORONTO – Premier Kathleen Wynne says she’s open to adding a line on hydro bills to break down the so-called global adjustment charge, which accounts for up to 70 per cent of electricity rates.

The Ontario Energy Board rejected the auditor general’s request for a separate line on hydro bills for the global adjustment, which covers the gap between the prices guaranteed to electricity generators and actual market rates.

The auditor estimates the global adjustment cost at 50 billion dollars between 2006 and 2015.

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And the auditor recommends bills be changed to separately disclose the components of pricing — the electricity market price and the global adjustment.

Energy Minister Glenn Thibeault had said the Liberals would not overrule the decision of the arms-length Energy Board, but Wynne now says the government should reconsider its position.

She says being as transparent on bills as possible is “a really good objective,” but adds her job is more than just breaking out a number on a bill, it’s also to try to reduce that number.

Wynne says if the government is more transparent about where the costs like the global adjustment charge are coming from, it might be able to figure out how to get some of those costs down.