Hydro One wants an increase in the price of power because it says it needs money for new equipment that will keep the system stable.
The utility is asking for a half a per cent increase this year and a 4.8 percent bump next year.
Hydro One CEO, Mayo Schmidt, says if the equipment fails, then the system fails and that means power outages.
The liberal government slashed hydro bills by an average of 25 per cent earlier this year, after soaring costs helped send their approval ratings to record lows, promising rate increases will not surpass the rate of inflation for the next four years.
Recently the Ontario Energy Board ordered the utility to reduce their administrative budget by $30 million over two.
The regulator said that customers should not be penalized for “unreasonably high” compensation of senior staff at Hydro One. Rates are expected to be set this fall.
Ontario partially privatized Hydro One, starting with an IPO in 2015 and leaving the province with just under 50 per cent ownership.
After the rejection of a proposal to give all of the tax savings generated by the 2015 Initial Public Offering of the partially privatized company to shareholders, the OEB mandated they would be split with customers.
Shareholders receive 71 per cent of the savings, while ratepayers receive the remaining 29 per cent.
That would drop Hydro One's shareholders portion of tax savings from $81.9 million to $58.1 in 2017 and from $89.6 million to $63.6 million in 2018.
Hydro One has asked the OEB to reconsider.
"When (Ontario) sold the company the shareholders that are acquiring those shares would have acquired the effect of the tax in their transaction," Schmidt said. "We would have a view that the tax would belong to shareholders."
