A way to fix our broken hydro

I have received a number of emails, phone calls and messages with concerns regarding Minister Chiarelli and Premier Wynne's latest 'rebate program' charade for Ontario's electricity customers. This is nothing more than another purposeful distraction that provides no remedy to the problems underlying this government's failed energy fiasco.

Electricity is a commodity, just as oil and gas, or jam and bread. In a free and democratic country, a commodity's price is determined by the marketplace and subject to the laws of supply and demand. The more useful and beneficial a commodity is, along with convenience, access and affordability all contribute to the supply/demand. 

However, in Ontario, electricity is not viewed as a commodity by the current Liberal government; instead it is viewed and used as a instrument to achieve their warped vision of social justice and a social welfare system. They have isolated electricity from the free market laws of supply and demand, and instead subjected it to the political whims and aspirations in order to create a false perception in the voters' minds that the Liberals are protecting the environment.  In truth, the electricity policies are catering to Liberal cronies who benefit from the lucrative, ill-gotten financial gains and subsidies through green energy contracts.

The Auditor General has tallied these failed Liberal electricity policies and has determined that Ontario electricity consumers have overpaid by $50 Billion in excess of the value of electricity if priced in the free market.  This is the equivalent of an extra $10,000.00 for each household, and with new green energy developments still coming on line, will only get worse.

The present electricity problems are both administrative and political:

1. First, there are the errors of overbilling and estimated bills due to an untested and unreliable smart meter network (MDMR) operated by the IESO;
2. Inflated regulatory and delivery charges to pay for and hide the gross mismanagement and exorbitant wages paid by OPG and Hydro;
3. The Green Energy Act which compels Hydro One to purchase renewable energy at inflated over market rates (FIT Contracts), losses which are then passed onto customers through the global adjustment charge; and
4. An electricity utility that is monopolistic and not subject to demands for customer service or satisfaction, nor the law of supply and demand. 

After careful consideration, I believe the following suggestions ought to be apparent and evident to this Liberal Government:

1. They need to audit the MDMR network, and either scrap or alter the present network;
2. They need to trim both the wages and the number of employees at OPG and Hydro One;
3. They must cancel the Green Energy Act, stop all new FIT contracts, and impose a significant tax on the excess profits of the FIT developers, using  the proceeds to reimburse Ontario electricity customers; and
4. They need to end the Hydro One monopoly and allow for competition in a free marketplace.

Until this government is willing to acknowledge these failings and is prepared to take the necessary steps to fix the problems, they will only continue to exacerbate and compound upon our very real electricity problems in Ontario.