“[Energy Minister Todd] Smith’s office did not respond to questions from The Globe on the fate of the Hydro One dividend promise and the decision to run deficits while subsidizing electricity consumption.”

“Effective November 1, 2021, the OER is providing eligible consumers with a 17% rebate from the province on the subtotal of their electricity bill. Consumers that are currently receiving the OER under the grandfathering regulatory provisions will continue to receive the rebate until October 31, 2022. When the OER was introduced, a grandfathering period was put in place for consumers that were previously receiving the 8% rebate as of October 22, 2019, if they met prescribed requirements to provide notice to their electricity vendor before February 1, 2020. […] The Hydro One dividend supports programs to keep your bill low. The Province of Ontario is Hydro One’s largest shareholder and receives a quarterly dividend that directly supports Ontario’s electricity rate relief programs, credits and rebates. When Hydro One’s board of directors declares a dividend on common shares, all shareholders of the company as of a certain date are eligible to receive a dividend based on the number of common shares they own. Ontario owns approximately 47% of Hydro One shares. In the fiscal year 2019-20 Ontario received $291 million in dividends from Hydro One. This equals approximately $60 per electricity customer that benefits from rebates or credits on their bill, in 2019-2020.”

“The government is already spending about $4 billion per year to subsidize hydro rates. Industry estimates suggest a further 12 per cent drop for residential users would cost at least $800 million per year. The PCs had hinted they would partially fund this by using the dividend from the government’s shares in Hydro One. That money — roughly $240 million per year so far — has been spent on other things.”

“During the campaign, the Progressive Conservatives said they would be able to redirect the $1-billion in dividends and taxes paid by Hydro One from the government to ratepayers in order to reduce their hydro bills. However, that money currently goes to general revenues as well as to the Ontario Electricity Financial Corp., which finances the province’s long-term power-related debt.”