The Windsor-Essex Regional Chamber of Commerce is calling on the provincial government to show that electricity prices will not increase because of Ontario’s decision to sell off 60 percent of Hydro One.
It is part of an initiative by 33 Ontario chambers and boards of trade.
“Rising electricity prices is a top concern for not just Windsor-Essex business but business across Ontario. It’s putting us at a competitive disadvantage,” said Matt Marchand, president and CEO of the Windsor-Essex Regional Chamber of Commerce, in a news release.
He says it is important to recognize that electricity represents a significant cost to employers and job creators.
“As the government moves forward with the sale of Hydro One, it is essential that it works to ensure that business operation in Ontario remains affordable by containing electricity costs,” says Marchand.
In a recent report by the OCC, Empowering Ontario, Ontario’s chambers of commerce called for increased transparency around electricity and system cost drivers from the provincial government.
The chamber says the partial sale of Hydro One should be subject to a similar level of scrutiny. Since the release of the 2013 Long Term Energy Plan, industrial electricity rates have increased by 16 percent and will increase a further 13 percent over the next five years.
According to a survey conducted by the OCC, one in 20 businesses will either shut their doors or move to another jurisdiction in the coming years due to these rising rates.
