Toronto: Enbridge’s application for a rate increase of $86 to $94 a year for customers has been approved, according to Greg Rickford, Ontario Minister of Energy, Northern Development and Mines.
In March this year, Enbridge Gas announced that it has received approval from Ontario Energy Board to decrease the rates its customers pay for natural gas effective April 1, 2019. It said residential customers who buy natural gas from Enbridge will see decreases ranging from $21 to $76 per year depending on their location.
The April cut reflected forecast decreases in North American market prices for natural gas supplies and the cost to transport natural gas from Western Canada and the U.S. into Ontario. Apparently, now the opposite is true.
“We now know that the Ontario Energy Board has approved Enbridge’s application for a rate increase of approximately $86 to $94 a year for customers. This is just one more example of how the federal government’s carbon tax is making life more unaffordable for families and businesses… the people of Ontario deserve to know the full truth about how the federal carbon tax will make their lives more unaffordable,” he said.
“We have been clear that we are committed to lowering energy costs and providing transparency for low-income families, seniors and small businesses. Our government has always been opposed to the federal carbon tax cash grab because it raises the prices of natural gas and gasoline.
The Doug Ford government cancelled the Liberals’ cap-and-trade carbon scheme, which it said, made life more expensive for the people of Ontario.
“We are putting more money back in the pockets of families who are struggling to make ends meet. Yet every month Ontarians will pay the costs incurred under the federal carbon tax,” said Rickford.
“Let me be perfectly clear, the federal carbon tax is a tax on everything and will make life even more unaffordable for families and businesses in Ontario. That’s why our government will continue to use every tool at our disposal to hold the federal government accountable to the people of Ontario, and we will continue to promote affordability and transparency for Ontario energy customers,” he added.