TORONTO, ON: Documents obtained by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) reveal that the electricity bill for the Guelph General Hospital has increased by $378,437 since 2012, or 35 per cent.

The documents show bills that are steadily increasing every year, despite the fact that since 2012 the hospital has completed nine energy reduction projects.

“How is the Guelph General Hospital expected to manage their budget when electricity bills are rising by hundreds of thousands of dollars?” asked CTF Ontario Director, Christine Van Geyn. “The more the hospital has to spend keeping their lights on, the fewer resources they have for patients.”

Ontario has seen dramatic increases to the cost of electricity, with bills for residential consumers more than doubling in the last decade.

“Families across the province all feel the pain of rapid increases to the cost of electricity when they pay their home electricity bill. But what many people don’t think about is the cost of the Ontario government’s failed electricity policy to the institutions we all rely on, like the Guelph General Hospital,” continued Van Geyn. “Instead of wasting $378,438 on inflated electricity bills, the Guelph General Hospital could have paid to treat 56 embolisms. That’s something that Ontario patients expect their health care system to spend money on, rather than wasting money on this government’s hydro rip-off.”

The documents detailing Guelph Regional Hospital electricity bills can be found HERE.