TORONTO - Premier Dalton McGuinty shrugged off another poll Tuesday that suggests his Liberal government may be out of a job next fall as opposition parties renewed their attacks over soaring hydro bills.

Even though recent polls indicate a majority of voters think it's time for a change in government, McGuinty said they won't distract him from focusing on issues that matter to families, like schools.

"I've got to stay focused on the job at hand," he said. "There's only one poll that counts. That's the one you take on election day."

McGuinty, who has been under fire for weeks over rising home electricity costs, acknowledged that hydro bills have gone up for many people and insists he's been listening to their concerns.

He ventured to a Toronto nursing home Tuesday to announce the expansion of an existing energy and property tax credit for seniors, but that failed to impress critics who say it will do little to help.

"They're scrambling, and we know it. He knows it," said New Democrat Rosario Marchese.

"The problems are systemic and they stem from the fact that the policies of this government are making the lives of the people more unaffordable. And so, under pressure they come up with something that attempts to relieve the pain, but in my mind we need a more systemic solution."

That includes heeding the NDP's call for a break on the provincial portion of the HST on hydro bills, which would provide immediate relief for millions of consumers, not just seniors, he added.

The New Democrats estimate the move would cost the provincial treasury about $500 million a year -- the same amount that's being used to expand the tax credit program for seniors.

But Finance Minister Dwight Duncan quashed any hope for an HST exemption Tuesday, saying the government is already helping consumers by offering tax credits, income tax cuts and three transition cheques as part of the harmonized sales tax package.

The 13 per cent HST is a levy on consumption, not income, which gives consumers greater power over how much tax they end up paying, he argued.

"People will hopefully take advantage of conservation alternatives as well as these tax credits to help them better manage their household expenses," Duncan said.

Seniors who qualify for the tax credit will be reimbursed quarterly starting next summer, with the first cheque arriving June 2011, finance officials said.

Those cheques will also arrive on the months when they aren't already receiving one of the two remaining HST transition cheques, Duncan added.

"People particularly in more modest incomes will see a steady flow of credit throughout the year, as opposed to having to wait until the end of the year to get money," he said.

Opposition parties have been hammering the Liberals for weeks over rising home electricity bills, saying McGuinty's green energy policies, as well as July's addition of the HST to electricity bills, are to blame.

They say they're swamped with complaints from homeowners, who've already been hit with an extra eight per cent for electricity because of the HST, plus the costs of installing smart meters and moving to expensive time-of-use pricing.

Environmentalists are also concerned that the government's plan to refurbish its aging nuclear fleet will drive up costs even further.

The Ontario Clean Air Alliance, which plans to release a report Wednesday on the costs of rebuilding the Darlington nuclear units, said Ontario Power Generation is seeking permission to raise its rates in March 2011 to start paying for the re-build.

The Liberals forced expensive programs like smart meters on consumers even though they're not saving them any money, said Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak. It's not surprising that recent polls indicate the government is tanking.

"Every time they turn around, Dalton McGuinty is whacking them with some new tax increase, hydro rate increase or user fee," Hudak said. "Families just can't afford it any more and that's why they want change."

A lot can change in the year leading up to the next provincial election, but the furor over rising hydro bills isn't going away, said Bryan Evans, a politics professor at Toronto's Ryerson University.

McGuinty will also have to tackle lingering fears about the economy as well as the HST -- issues that may require more than 13 months to work through, he said.

Voters are already venting their anger at the municipal level and supporting right-wing candidates like Toronto mayoral hopeful Rob Ford, who's made cost-cutting at city hall his campaign mantra.

"As we're witnessing in Toronto, people are angry," Evans said.

"You have this broad, inchoate, maybe not particularly rational anger out there, but yet it's the reality. And there will be a large element of that felt at the provincial level come October 2011."