PCs plan to replace Liberals´ hydro rate cut plan
(The Star Food)

The Ford government is proposing to wind down a previous Liberal administration’s 25-per-cent-off hydro plan while keeping electricity rate increases to the rate of inflation.Energy Minister Greg Rickford said the changes would be made through the Progressive Conservative’s “Fixing the Hydro Mess Act� tabled in the legislature on Thursday.If passed, the bill would save $442 million by “refocusing� electricity conservation programs and saving on interest costs of long-term borrowing from the previous government’s Fair Hydro Plan, which was brought in to reduce costs for electricity users — a hot-button issue heading into last spring`s provincial election campaign. “We`re continuing to find hundreds of millions of dollars in savings,� Rickford said in a statement, noting the Liberal plan would result in $4 billion in borrowing costs over the coming decades.more to comeRob Ferguson is a Toronto-based reporter covering Ontario politics. Follow him on Twitter: @robferguson1