The Ford government will spend another $1.6-billion this fiscal year to hold any increases in hydro rates to the rate of inflation.

Announced during the quarterly fiscal update on the province’s finances, Finance Minister Rod Phillips says that brings the total being spent to keep electricity prices stable to $5.6-billion.

He knows your shaking your head but adds it’s the legacy of 15 years of Liberal mismanagement that Energy Minister Greg Rickford is trying to fix.

”You’re right.  That’s a lot of money that is now going into fixing that broken plan and Minister Rickford is working with a number of initiatives to look at how we do get to a stage where we cannot just stabilize rates but do better with them.  But it’s a considerable investment,” said Phillips, who points out the additional $1.6-billion is coming from the just over $3-billion increase in revenues since last year’s budget.

As for the deficit, Phillips says it remains at $9-billion.