The province's fiscal watchdog led with an electrifying number.

The Ford government's energy subsidies will total $118.1 billion over the next 20 years — $6.9 billion next year alone — the Financial Accountability Office (FAO) found in a report released Wednesday.

It also found the government is still committed to its 2018 promise to lower hydro rates by 12 per cent, technically.

It plans to do that not by lowering the cost to 12 per cent less than in 2018, but by lowering bills to 12 per cent less than they would have been in 2025 under the previous government's Fair Hydro Plan.

Premier Doug Ford promised the reduction "without shady accounting tricks" during the announcement.

Ontario has struggled with high hydro prices for decades. Hydro One ran massive deficits in the 1990s, and the previous Liberal government outsourced the revamp of the province's energy infrastructure to private companies in the early 2000s. That resulted in far more energy capacity than the province needed. And because the government guaranteed profits to the private companies, taxpayers had to pay for the electricity even if they couldn't use it. Kathleen Wynne's government also sold off part of Hydro One to pay for infrastructure projects, resulting in more long-term cost to the province.

The result is a tangled mess of complex contracts, surplus energy and higher rates — and enormous political rewards to whomever can lower the cost.

Energy Minister Todd Smith said the report was a win.

"The Financial Accountability Officer (FAO) confirmed today that electricity bills will be 12 per cent lower than they would have been under the previous government’s disastrous plan," he said in a statement.

Smith noted that billions in subsidies lowered a typical ratepayer's bill by 29 per cent last year, according to the FAO's estimate. However, the spending accountability office also found the typical bill increased by 4.3 per cent between 2018 and 2021.

New Democrats said the government's claim that it's lowering rates by 12 per cent is a "sham."

"The FAO makes it clear that the scheme Ford put forward was always magic beans, smoke and mirrors, and a shell game," energy critic Peter Tabuns said. "It was built to be a façade, not to lower hydro bills. Instead of lowering hydro bills, Ford hiked them. Ontarians are still paying the unfairly high prices caused by Steven Del Duca and the Liberals selling off Hydro One, and Ford has done nothing to fix that."

The NDP would "rebuild" the system to lower bills instead, Tabuns said.

Liberal Leader Del Duca, who was a minister in the Wynne government, declined to take responsibility for the current high prices when asked on Wednesday. Instead, he slammed the premier for making a promise he couldn't keep.

"Doug Ford lied. And I suspect he knew he was lying in that moment in 2018, when he told the people of Ontario he would deliver lower electricity bills," Del Duca said.

Green Leader Mike Schreiner said Ford's plan saves wealthy families money at the expense of everyday Ontarians.

"Of the estimated $78 billion that will subsidize households over the next 20 years, only 21 per cent of the money will go towards low- and medium-income families," he noted.

A Green government would reallocate those billions into a green building and retrofit program, Schreiner said.

CUPE Ontario also criticized the subsidies given to large businesses.

"Companies like Loblaws, who have actually profited during this pandemic, are getting government money to pay their hydro bills, while public services are stretched thin due to years of underfunding," CUPE Ontario president Fred Hahn said in a statement.

The FAO found nine subsidy programs that make up the $118.1-billion cost. Two-thirds of that spending will benefit Ontario households, and one-third will benefit businesses. The annual cost of the programs will reach $6.9 billion in 2021-22, but then gradually fall to $4.2 billion in 2039-40, a 40 per cent decline in the programs’ annual cost.

The Ford government replaced the Liberals' Fair Hydro Plan with the Ontario Electricity Rebate and the Renewable Cost Shift. Those changes almost totalled overall subsidies, making up $52.9 billion of the $118.1-billion total cost.

Of the total, $78.3 billion helps residential ratepayers, including: $16.9 billion supporting low- and moderate-income families; $17.1 billion to help rural and on-reserve households; and $44.3 billion to benefit all households.

The remaining $39.8 billion will go to businesses, including: $24.3 billion benefiting small businesses, farms and long-term care homes; $8.4 billion for large commercial ratepayers; and $7.2 billion to help industrial ratepayers.

Ford government uses creative math to ‘lower’ hydro bills by 12%: FAO

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