power linesThe province needs to make hydro rates affordable for everyone says Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli.

He’s reacting to Thursday’s announcement of rebates on hydro bills for low income households.

Fedeli says this is just a band aid fix and the Liberal Government has other options to bill everyone evenly. He says control hydro rates, cancel the expensive Feed in Tariff Program and the wind turbine program which has tripled the hydro rates.

Energy Minister Bob Chiarelli announced Thursday the province will bring in a sliding scale of $20 to $50 a month depending on income and family size for low-income customers.

Part of the announcement included taking away the 10% rebate on all hydro bills and Lana Mitchell says that doesn’t make much sense mathematically.

Mitchell is the Executive Director of the Low Income People Involvement of Nipissing and she says the program may not last very long.

She says “the first chance someone get’s it will get removed because it’s targeted at a small portion of the population.”

Mitchell says she hopes this will also cover organizations such as LIPI, who rely on the 10%rebate on their hydro bill.

The annual electricity bill for an average Ontario household will rise by about 137 dollars next year.

Written by matthew.sookram@northbayradio.rogers.com