Privatizing Ontario electricity companies would help lower rates: report
TORONTO — One of the largest chambers of commerce in Canada is calling for wider privatization of electricity distribution companies to increase competitiveness in an attempt to drive down costly Ontario electricity prices over the long-term.
In a report to be released Tuesday and obtained by The Canadian Press, the Toronto Region Board of Trade makes sweeping recommendations aimed at changing the province’s troubled energy sector.
In the first of several reports to be released ahead of Ontario’s 2018 provincial election called “Agenda for Growth,” the board urges the province’s political parties to adopt its findings to fix the system.
Board CEO Jan De Silva said the one of the report’s key recommendations is to privatize — by a maximum of 10 per cent initially — portions of local hydro distribution companies which are now run by municipalities. That would lead to more innovation, more efficient operation and would benefit businesses and consumers, she said.