Finance Minister Dwight Duncan's Nose Grows...

faster than hydro bills go up as he lies through his teeth about power and rates:

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Clean, reliable power costs money

The following is excerpted from the economic statement delivered in the Ontario Legislature Thursday by Finance Minister Dwight Duncan:

Governments of every political stripe in this province failed to make crucial investments in electricity supply and transmission.

By 2003, people did not know if the lights would stay on.

Back then, about 25 per cent of Ontario’s electricity came from dirty coal.

In 2003, there was no plan for conservation, no plan for supply to keep up with demand. In 2003, the wires that bring power to homes were in critical disrepair.

At that time, while demand was going up, the electricity system lost 1,800 megawatts of power capacity. That’s the equivalent of Niagara Falls running dry.

Moreover, in 2003, Ontario had to import U.S. coal-fired electricity just to keep the lights on.
The government of the day even had to set up emergency generators for fear of brownouts.
A brief market-deregulation experiment in 2002 saw electricity prices spike an average of over 30 per cent over seven months.

Clean reliable electricity should be part of our everyday lives — there’s no compromise on clean air and reliable power.

In 2003, Ontario needed action and this government took action.
With the changes we’ve made, we’ve built enough new cleaner generation to power some 2 million homes — about a fifth of that is from renewables like wind and solar.

With the changes we’ve made, there are 5,000 kilometres of improved transmission lines.

With the changes we’ve made, conservation programs are back and can save families money.

We’re on track to close Ontario’s dirty coal plants — the equivalent of taking 7 million cars off the road.

All of this is making Ontario a leader in clean energy. It means new investment in Ontario and new jobs. . . .

Clean energy manufacturing plants are opening in communities like Guelph and Windsor to serve the Ontario market and to export made-in-Ontario solar panels and wind turbines.
The previous government gave us dirty coal. We are eliminating coal entirely and cleaning our air.

They left us with 10 wind turbines. We brought in 700.

These investments cost money.

We had to invest. These were necessary, unavoidable costs.

We are all paying for decades of neglect by governments of all political stripes.

Around the world, residential and business consumers are feeling the impact of electricity prices.

And, if people tell you they can deliver clean reliable electricity at a lower price, don’t believe them.

http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/article/894119--clean-reliable-power-costs-money#article

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RW, again note the comments. No one is getting fooled. Rumour has it that some Liberals will not be seeking re-election.