TORONTO (CP) - The provincial government could reinvigorate the manufacturing sector by cutting industrial hydro rates by 15 percent, New Democrat Leader Howard Hampton said.
Hampton says the all-in cost of electricity would go down by about $10 to $55 a megawatt hour if he was elected as premier on Oct. 10.
The steel, automobile and forestry sectors would get the rate at the start of next year and have the price locked in for five years.
But the businesses would be required to guarantee jobs and meet energy-efficiency targets.
Hampton says the lower rates wouldn't cost noncommerical users anything because he would reign in the salaries and profits at Hydro One and Ontario Power Generation to make up the difference.