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Bill Kelly: Why do Ontarians support Wynne’s flawed hydro plan?

Click to play video: 'Ontario AG says Liberals hiding true impact of hydro bill reduction'
Ontario AG says Liberals hiding true impact of hydro bill reduction
Ontario’s Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk says the way the Liberal government is cutting hydro bills by 25 per cent purposely obscures the true financial impact of the measure – Oct 17, 2017

There seems to be general agreement with Ontario’s auditor general, that the Wynne government’s plan to reduce our hydro bills, is going to cost us a lot more money in the long run.

So why do public opinion polls show that the plan is so popular with Ontario voters?

A financial planner friend of mine offered some insight into my question.

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He told me that, from a purely  financial perspective, taking out a 20-year mortgage to buy a house is a lousy move too because you end up paying a lot more for the house because of interest payments.

But people do it anyway because the monthly payments are a lot more affordable than paying the true cost of the house up front.

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And so it is with our hydro bills; if that amount owing number on our hydro bill is lower than last winter, we’re happy consumers.

READ MORE: Ontario energy regulator orders Hydro One to cut administrative budget by $30M

But that’s not to say that Ontario voters give a thumbs up to the government’s hydro strategy; we’re still ticked off at how badly managed and costly hydro in Ontario has become and we’re frustrated that neither the NDP nor the PCs have come up with a better plan to lower our hydro bills.

Ontario hydro may be a total disaster, but the government has made the cost of that disaster more affordable to consumers, and in the absence of anything better, we’ll take that deal.

Bill Kelly is the host of Bill Kelly Show on AM 900 CHML and a commentator for Global News.

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