The opposition tore into the Liberal provincial government on Wednesday over news that it paid a private nuclear generator $57.5 million in 2009 for electricity that was not generated.
"(Premier Dalton McGuinty's) government quietly re-negotiated a deal with Bruce (Power). Now Ontario families are forced to pay more, even if Bruce isn't generating any power," said NDP Leader Andrea Horwath on Wednesday.
"It's another slap in the face of the people of this province," she said.
Horwath said the Bruce deal added to the burden of extending the Harmonized Sales Tax to hydro and the "not-so-smart" meters.
Smart meters have come under fire because data collection problems led to some people being over-billed.
But Energy Minister Brad Duguid defended the July 2009 deal with Bruce Power.
"This agreement provides enough power there to ensure we have power when we need it," he said.
"You don't build a fire hall and buy a fire truck just when the fire happens. You need to invest in that ahead of time."
The government was paying Bruce Power for what is known as surplus baseload generation. The Ontario Power Authority agreed to pay Bruce $48.33 for each megawatt that had been anticipated for demand but ultimately not needed.
In 2009, Ontario was still mired in recession and had a cool summer, so air conditioning usage was down.
In total, the OPA paid Bruce power $57.5 million for about 1.2 terawatt hours of electricity that was not produced. A terawatt is a million megawatts.
The government has also said that the payment insulates taxpayers from having to pick up a share of any cost over-runs at Bruce when it refurbishes its nuclear reactors located near Lake Huron.
Those over-runs are currently estimated to be $3 billion.
Premier Dalton McGuinty said he understands the NDP remains opposed to nuclear power in the province.
"I reject that, and of course I can't accept it. Nuclear generation makes up about 50 per cent of our supply that we rely on today," he said.
With a report from CTV Toronto's Paul Bliss
