This study will examine the consequences for the people of Toronto of the transformation of the retail distribution of electric power that is proposed under the provincial Energy Competition Act (Bill 35). The Act has mandated that the Toronto Hydro-Electric Commission, an organization that distributed electricity at cost, be converted into the Toronto Hydro Corporation, a business organization that is to earn a profit for the City on the capital it employs. The privatization of Toronto Hydro is not now under consideration by the City Council, but Bill 35 allows that to take place in whole or in part. We will examine the consequences of three alternative regimes for the people of Toronto, both as consumers of electric power and as owners of Toronto Hydro. One is the consumers’ cooperative that continues until Bill 35 goes into effect. The second is Toronto Hydro under Bill 35 and city ownership, and the third is a privatized Toronto Hydro.(1)
Notes
- In carrying out this study, the author has benefited from information kindly provided by Catherine Nolan of Toronto Hydro and Deborah Penn of the American Public Power Association, as well as the help of Kevin Taft.