Why do people in Cornwall pay lower electricity bills than you do?
The City of Cornwall has the lowest residential electricity bills in Ontario because it buys lower-cost water power from Hydro Quebec.
Ontario could buy lots more less-expensive water power from Quebec for the rest of us too, instead of getting electricity from the creaking old high-cost Pickering Nuclear Station and paying for the wildly expensive planned re-build of the Darlington Nuclear Station.
As the table below shows, the monthly electricity bills for typical residential consumers (750 kWh per month) around Ontario are higher — 14% to 84% higher — than the prices charged in Cornwall.
The higher-cost electricity cities in Ontario obtain their power from the Ontario electricity grid (60% nuclear, 24% water power, 10% gas, 6% wind, <1% solar).
Monthly Electricity Bills for Typical Residential Consumers
|
Electric Utility |
Monthly Bill for Typical Residential Consumer |
Higher cost |
|
Cornwall Electric |
$120.66 |
|
|
Kitchener-Wilmot Hydro |
$137.93 |
14% |
|
Thunder Bay Hydro |
$137.95 |
14% |
|
Kingston Hydro |
$140.75 |
17% |
|
PowerStream (Barrie) |
$140.58 |
17% |
|
PowerStream (Aurora, Bradford West Gwillimbury, Markham, Richmond Hill, Vaughan) |
$140.75 |
17% |
|
London Hydro |
$143.00 |
19% |
|
Greater Sudbury Hydro |
$143.32 |
19% |
|
Hydro Ottawa |
$144.20 |
20% |
|
Enersource Hydro Mississauga |
$144.25 |
20% |
|
North Bay Hydro |
$145.01 |
20% |
|
Veridian Connections (Ajax, Belleville, Gravenhurst, Pickering, Port Hope) |
$145.37 |
20% |
|
Waterloo North Hydro |
$147.83 |
23% |
|
Horizon Utilities (Hamilton, St. Catharines) |
$149.18 |
24% |
|
Guelph Hydro |
$149.46 |
24% |
|
Bluewater Power (Sarnia) |
$152.49 |
26% |
|
Hydro One (Urban) |
$156.30 |
30% |
|
Toronto Hydro |
$160.91 |
33% |
|
Hydro One (Medium Density) |
$178.95 |
48% |
|
Hydro One (Low Density) |
$206.64 |
71% |
|
Hydro One (Seasonal) |
$221.93 |
84% |
The City of Cornwall is the only city in Ontario that has a long-term electricity supply contract with Hydro Quebec.
Quebec is the 4th largest producer of water power in the world and it has the lowest electricity rates in North America. It has an electricity surplus it is eager to sell.
“It is time for Premier Wynne to negotiate a long-term electricity supply contract with Hydro Quebec to help lower the electricity bills of all of Ontario’s electricity consumers,” said Jack Gibbons, Chair of the Ontario Clean Air Alliance.
For background information see our report: The Benefits and Costs of Increased Electricity Trade Between Quebec and Ontario
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For further information:
Jack Gibbons, Chair, Ontario Clean Air Alliance
(416) 260 2080 x2