Premier McGuinty Opines on consolidation of Local Distribution Companies

If it's not a small world, it's certainly a small politician ...

Dalton McGuinty is picking up on Australian PM Gillard's strategy of shifting of the blame for rising electricity prices onto utilities - particularly publicly owned utilities (some background here).

She seems to have noted that wasn't going too well, as the view of Australia joining the EU ETS is Gillard capitulated on the carbon tax (the public's perceived culprit in driving pricing) in the best face-saving way (more here)

TheRecord - Premier sparks debate on merging electric utilities:

WATERLOO REGION — City-owned electric utilities hiked administrative costs three times faster than inflation while increasing rates over a five-year period, delivering less electricity and pouring millions into city hall coffers.
That’s got Ontario thinking about merging Kitchener-Wilmot Hydro, Waterloo North Hydro and Cambridge and North Dumfries Hydro, to deliver administrative savings to ratepayers.
“There are some states in the U.S. that have one or two public utilities compared to I forget how many dozens we have in Ontario,” Premier Dalton McGuinty told The Record in a recent interview. “So I’m convinced that there is room for efficiencies to be had.”

Continue reading at the Waterloo Record


McGuinty may have more luck because of a press that doesn't report much in Ontario.
The PC Party released a discussion paper earlier this year outlining steps to encourage consolidation of local distribution companies (abolish the transfer tax).
The Premier responded by establishing a committee of failed politicians, and now this by-election peek into his convictions.

Recommeded: Parker Gallant: Local distribution companies – fingers in the dike!