The Ontario government’s road trip to consult industry stakeholders on electricity pricing rolled into Sudbury, May 3.
Both online and in-person consultations began in April with road trips planned throughout the province to meet with stakeholders in the automotive, forestry, mining, agriculture, steel, manufacturing and chemical industries.
The government said it’s looking for input on power rate design, existing tax-based incentives, how to reduce system costs as well as regulatory and delivery costs.
Handling the duties in Sudbury for Energy, Northern Development and Mines Minister Greg Rickford were his parliamentary assistants Paul Calandra and Ross Romano.
"We want to hear firsthand from the mining sector on how we can improve our electricity system to make businesses more competitive," said Rickford in a news release. "We need to ensure our job-creating industries can thrive in Ontario with fair electricity prices.
"We're fixing the hydro mess we inherited from the previous government. That includes finding electricity pricing solutions that work for industry, to enable them to expand their operations, create jobs and remain competitive.”
Among the questions being posed is: what changes can be made to the Northern Industrial Electricity Rate rebate program to make it more beneficial?
Consultation questions are available online, with electronic submissions accepted until May 31.
Send email submissions (in either pdf or Word document form) to: electricity.consultations@ontario.ca
