Press Release
During question period on Thursday, local NDP MPP Sarah Campbell demanded answers from Premier Kathleen Wynne about why she has no plan to help local businesses like the Nickel Lake Lumber sawmill near Fort Frances, which has seen its hydro bill go up 50 percent.
“The premier’s hydro plan does next to nothing to help medium-sized businesses like Nickel Lake Lumber,” Campbell charged.
She said under Wynne’s hydro mismanagement, the sawmill is too big to receive the eight percent hydro rebate and it won’t receive any potential reductions restricted to small businesses.
“The NDP’s plan would reduce hydro bills for all ratepayers, including medium-sized businesses like the Nickel Lake mill,” Campbell noted.
“Why does the premier’s plan exclude medium-sized businesses from any savings she claims is coming?”
Nickel Lake Lumber employs 25 people near Fort Frances.
“Mr. Kendall Lundy, the owner, tells me he has ‘just about had it’ and that ‘everyone’s jobs are in jeopardy,'” Campbell said.
“Meanwhile, his competitors in Minnesota have hydro bills that are half what he pays.
“What’s worse, he is subsidizing cheap hydro exports to these competitors, costing ratepayers like Mr. Lundy billions of dollars each year,” she stressed.
“Why does the premier’s hydro scheme have no solution at all to rein in these wasteful hydro exports and reduce overall hydro costs?” Campbell asked.
Last week, Economic Development minister Brad Duguid confirmed that under the new Liberal hydro plan, many Ontario businesses would receive as little as two percent savings–not the reductions the Wynne government initially claimed.
