The Ontario Government will open the provinces huge electricity market to competition and privatize the giant crown corporation Hydro One.
Premier Mike Harris says Ontario will take the plunge and deregulate its 10-billion dollar electricity market next spring, and he is promising to give a date before Christmas.
The market was supposed to open to competition last year, but the move was delayed in the face of last winters energy crisis in California and Alberta.
Harris says his government will also privatize Hydro One, the crown corporation which owns Ontarios main electricity transmission grid.
There had been speculation the cabinet would turn Hydro One into a non-profit corporation, but Harris says it will be sold through an initial public offering.
The largest privitization in Canadian history, which the New Democrats call a dirty deal, has consumer groups worried electricity rates in Ontario will go through the roof.
(Courtesy Broadcast News)