Ontario legislature to resume today following winter break

TORONTO – The high cost of electricity is expected to produce most of the buzz today as the Ontario legislature returns from its winter hiatus.

Many taxpayers are furious over electricity rates and Premier Kathleen Wynne continues to feel the heat despite a recent admission that high hydro bills are her “mistake.”

READ MORE: Ontario energy minister calls on utility companies to end winter disconnections

The provincial government did introduce an eight-per-cent rebate on electricity bills as of Jan. 1, with further savings for rural customers, but Wynne has been told that isn’t enough.

The premier has promised more relief in addition to targeted measures for low-income and rural and northern residents – likely to be announced prior to the spring budget.

READ MORE: Ontario Energy Board rejects auditor’s call to clarify global adjustment on hydro bills

On a related issue, both opposition parties are expected to press the government today to stop electricity disconnections during the winter.

The NDP says it will try to have a section of an omnibus bill aimed at stopping the disconnections tabled as a separate bill.

Progressive Conservative Todd Smith says he will table a private member’s bill to make the disconnection clause of the omnibus bill verbatim in order for it to be quickly passed into law.