First the good news: you’ll be able to cook your holiday turkey in your oven this year, instead of having to use your gas barbeque.

Ontario Premier Ernie Eves’ recent announcement that the rate paid by electricity consumers since May 1 is going back to its pre-deregulation level is welcome news for those who were afraid that they’d be freezing in the dark this winter, or worse (many people actually risked losing their homes when they made a choice to keep the lights on and delay the rent or mortgage payments). And school boards, hospitals, and other public institutions can put their scarce financial resources back into what they are supposed to be doing, instead of diverting them to hydro bills that have increased by as much as 200 per cent.

The bad news is that Eves has done nothing to fix the inherent flaws in his government’s free market initiative (flaws which were endlessly pointed out to them before May 1, and which were obvious to anyone paying attention to the disastrous situations in the United States and Alberta). What he’s done is to allow the commodity price to continue to be set by the market, with taxpayers making up most of the difference — thereby protecting the bottom line for electricity speculators. When the caps come off (after the next election, of course), there’s no limit on what you’ll be paying. Moreover, Eves is doing little to quell the other source of the problem: the fact that, on October 7, the Independent Electricity Market Operator warned that Ontario faces “a serious shortage” of generating capacity.

Ontario New Democrat Party (NDP) Leader Howard Hampton reacted with an appropriate amount of cynicism to the Tories’ admission of failure. He argues that “Electricity is an essential public service that should be delivered at cost on a non-profit basis to Ontario consumers.

Turning electricity into a private, profit-driven business won’t get us where we want to go as a province, as a people, nor as an economy. Having a public, non-profit power system is the only way to kill the Conservative government’s deregulation monster that created this hydro crisis.”

Paul Kahnert of the Ontario Electricity Coalition echoed this sentiment, noting that “At public forums held across the province last spring, Ontarians told us they want an end to electricity deregulation and privatization and solid long-term hydro policies delivered under a fully public system. What they don’t want is hush money aimed at buying time and votes for Eves’ government until the next election.”

Personally, I’m amazed that Ernie Eves could keep a straight face when he uttered the following words on Monday: “It is unacceptable that families are being hit with hydro bills they can’t afford. Businesses are facing cost increases significantly larger than they have budgeted for. The problem requires immediate action and we are taking it.” Give me a break! Isn’t this the government that said deregulation would lead to lower bills and which routinely dismissed warnings about the inevitable costs of their scheme?

After unsuccessfully blaming the federal government (for making more GST on a part of the increased bills, something that was mandated by the way the Tories structured the charges), Ontario Power Generation (for gouging consumers, something the “free market” encouraged it to do) and the Ontario Energy Board (for not protecting consumers, something the legislation removed its power to do), our pal Ernie was left looking at himself in the mirror.

Keep in mind that anything you hear on this issue from Liberal leader Dalton McGuinty is as much of an about-face as Eves’ policy reversal. As recently as February, McGuinty said, “We believe that there should be deregulation in Ontario Hydro and introduce competition.”

As well, an invitation to an October 2001 Liberal party fundraiser — where private energy interests paid $350-dollars a plate to dine with McGuinty and Liberal energy critic Sean Conway — assured them that “Through Ontario’s electricity restructuring process, Dalton McGuinty and the Ontario Liberals have been consistent supporters of the move to an open electricity market in Ontario.”

As deregulation started to unfold, McGuinty developed a sudden case of amnesia. He denied any change in policy until a reporter played him a tape of his earlier remarks. “I honestly believed I’d never said that (I was in favour),” McGuinty said on June 3. “I didn’t recall at the outset that I’d said what I’d said.”

Eves also announced on Monday that Scarborough East MPP Steve Gilchrist would be appointed as Commissioner of Alternative Energy, with a mandate “to spearhead the introduction of alternative sources of power.”

I have a suggestion. If only we could attach generators to Ernie Eves and Dalton McGuinty, their constant flip-flopping on this issue would go a long way to dealing with the continuing shortfall in energy supply.

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Scott Piatkowski

Scott Piatkowski is a former columnist for rabble.ca. He wrote a weekly column for 13 years that appeared in the Waterloo Chronicle, the Woolwich Observer and ECHO Weekly. He has also written for Straight...