Wynne math: Hydro One is worth about $9 billion. It owes $5 billion — so the government will only net about $4 billion

BY CHRISTINA BLIZZARD

FIRST POSTED: THURSDAY, APRIL 16, 2015, Toronto Sun Newspaper

TORONTO  - Now we know what it feels like to have our assets whupped.

Yep, Premier Kathleen Wynne revealed Thursday this province will sell off 60% of Hydro One — the giant utility that owns the transmission system in Ontario.

And, oh, by the way, we’ll be able to buy beer in the grocery store.

And, oh, by the way, the price of beer is going up.

The province’s privatization guru, former TD Bank CEO Ed Clark, revealed details of his report Thursday on how to cash in on billions of dollars worth of Crown assets.

Oddly enough, when it comes to liquor, the province hasn’t touched the asset it owns — the LCBO. What it did was open up the asset it doesn’t own — the Beer Store — for competition.

The government will allow 450 grocery stores to sell beer in direct competition to the 450 Beer Stores already in existence.

And while Hydro One isn’t as sexy, by far the biggest part of Thursday’s announcement was the sale of the giant utility at fire sale prices. It’s worth $9 billion. It owes $5 billion — so the government will only net $4 billion.

Clark said the government will have an Initial Public Offering (IPO) of Hydro One and incrementally will sell off up to 60% of it. In his preliminary report last October, he specifically said the government would not have an IPO on Hydro One because he didn’t want Bay St. financiers cleaning up.

So now they’re handing over this massive asset for the Liberals to sell. Yes, this is the same Liberal Party that negotiated the Ornge air ambulance privatization boondoggle. Yes, this is the same Liberal Party that scrapped two gas plants being built by the private sector. Taxpayers got a $1-billion bill for that — and the companies building the plants made out very nicely, thank you.

What chance is there that taxpayers are going to see value for money this time?

“It’s a joke to think the Liberals have any ability whatsoever to do right by the people of Ontario in this deal,” said NDP Leader Andrea Horwath.

“They haven’t done right by the people of Ontario yet when they cook up these harebrained schemes.” More