Glenn Thibeault says Liberals not to blame for higher Kitchener gas fees

Kitchener homeowners have been told they'll face a possible $75-80 a year hike on their gas bills thanks to the Ontario Liberals' new cap-and-trade system, but Energy Minister Glenn Thibeault suggested his government isn't to blame.

"Higher fees is not something that is going to be implemented by the government, that's the fees that the gas utilities are putting on in terms of what they're seeing – their costs," Thibeault told The Morning Edition host Craig Norris Wednesday. 

"When you're talking about the specifics of the Kitchener gas utility, I understand that question, but it's really the [Independent Energy System Operator] that's the one that makes the decision as to how and when the operations are going to continue," Thibeault said.

• LISTEN to Ontario energy minister Glenn Thibeault on The Morning Edition

When asked if the government would make concessions to Ontario's two publicly-owned gas utilities, in Kitchener and Kingston, Thibeault replied, "in relation to publicly-owned gas utilities, again it's the IESO that negotiates the contracts ... we don't dictate to the IESO what a contract is."

Kitchener utility

Frustrated city politicians met in Kitchener earlier this week to discuss how they would pay for the Liberal government's new cap-and-trade system. 

The provincial plan would limit pollution by putting a price on carbon, while at the same time allowing companies to buy and sell emissions credits. 

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So far, there's no expectation that the new carbon costs will not be passed on to consumers.

"[Cap-and-trade] is a win-win-win in my opinion," Thibeault said, because there will be a win for the environment, people will meet their greenhouse gas targets and there will be programs in place to reduce emissions and costs.

'No choice'

Cynthia Fletcher, Interim Executive Director of Infrastructure Services in Kitchener, had to explain to councillors that city officials still don't have a complete picture of how the province's new system is expected to work. Nevertheless, the city-owned utility will be required to collect and pass fees on to the government.

"As we've stressed this is a mandatory provincial program and staff is giving you the update that we have – the best information we have today," she told councillors on Monday. "There is [new] information coming to us on a weekly basis."

• City of Kitchener looks for more clarification on cap-and-trade program
• No separate line item on utility bills to show cap-and-trade costs

In order to fall in line with the new system, Kitchener Utilities said it would have to raise rates by upwards of $75-$80 a year for the average Kitchener homeowner in 2017 to buy credits in time for when cap and trade comes into effect in 2018. 

"All that's happening here is we're going to be passing on a large bill from the province to the rate payers of our gas utility," Kitchener city councillor Scott Davey told CBC News Monday.  

The veteran municipal politician, and chair of the city's Finance and Corporate Services Committee, has publicly expressed his frustration with the Liberal government's new carbon pricing scheme, which comes into effect in January of 2018. 

"The reason we have difficulty with this particular method is it really doesn't take into account people's ability to pay, there's no choice to cut back on something in order to help the environment," Davey said. 

The Liberal government pledged to offer a billion dollars in hydro rebates in Monday's throne speech in an effort to quell the growing discontent with the soaring price of electricity in the province.