Oakville power plant closure will cost taxpayers $310 million

$565 million.

That's one whopping gas bill.

On Tuesday — as part of a legislative committee investigating the gas plant closures -- the Ontario Power Authority said that the Liberal government's decision to cancel the Oakville powerplant, prior to the 2011 election, will cost taxpayers $310 million — almost 8 times more than the figure the Liberals were touting.

[ Related: Ontario Liberals to announce budget on May 2 ]

That's in addition to the $275 million to government spent to scrap and move a generating station from Mississauga to Sarnia.

If you're keeping score at home, the total damage to Ontario taxpayer pocketbooks is over half a billion dollars.

Cue the outrage.

As explained by the Toronto Star, Premier Kathleen Wynne has already acknowledged that the plant cancellations were “politically motivated” and were meant to save Liberal seats in the 2011 election.

But on Tuesday afternoon, Wynne — who served as the Liberal's campaign co-chair in the 2011 campaign — told the committee, while under oath, that she was not involved the decision to cancel the gas plants and that she only learned about it from the media days before the election.

The closures have already inflicted a lot of damage upon the Liberal government.

Last September, it was the subject of a contempt motion in the legislature with the opposition parties alleging that the Liberals were withholding documents and trying to "cover up" the true cost of the plant closures.

It's also believed that the contempt motion was a key factor in Dalton McGuinty's decision to prougue the legislature and step down as premier.

On Tuesday, Ontario PC leader Tim Hudak called for non-confidence vote on gas plant controversy.

In a statement, Hudak said the gas plant closures were a "blatant disregard for taxpayers."

[ Related: Ontario Tories call for non-confidence vote on gas plant controversy unlikely to succeed ]

It's hard to argue with him.

This is a story that's not going away for the Liberals — and don't expect it to anytime soon.

Canadians were outraged by Harper government's $21 million Economic Action Plan ad budget; they threw out the federal Liberal government in part because of a sponsorship scandal that cost taxpayers over $50 million; and they still hold a collective grudge against Bev Oda and her $12 glass of orange juice.

Even if she wasn't directly involved, $500 million of wasted taxpayer money is going to be a difficult thing for Wynne to overcome.

(Photo courtesy of Reuters)

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