Ontario Energy Board sets new electricity prices for households and small businesses
Thursday, 22 April 2021 02:15.PM
Today the Ontario Energy Board (OEB) announced new, lower electricity prices for households and small businesses, effective May 1, 2021, under the Regulated Price Plan (RPP). The summer Time-of-Use (TOU) hours, and the summer Tier threshold for residential customers, will also come into effect May 1, 2021.
Typical residential customer bills to be held stable
The Government is also decreasing the Ontario Electricity Rebate (OER) from 21.2% to 18.9% effective May 1, 2021. The Government's intention is that, for residential and small business customers, the reduction in the electricity price will be offset by the change in the OER. The OER is a total pre-tax credit that appears at the bottom of electricity bills. As a result of lower RPP prices and the reduced OER, typical residential customer bills will be held stable. The typical residential RPP customer uses 700 kWh of electricity per month.
New RPP prices starting May 1, 2021
The new RPP TOU prices set by the OEB for May 1, 2021 are shown in the table below. The table also shows the hours during which those prices apply:
Summer TOU Price Periods / May 1, 2021 TOU Prices
Off-Peak (Weekdays 7 p.m. – 7 a.m., all day weekends and holidays) - 8.2¢/kWh
Mid-Peak (Weekdays 7 a.m. – 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. – 7 p.m.) - 11.3¢/kWh
On-Peak (Weekdays 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.) - 17.0¢/kWh
The table below shows the new RPP Tier prices and summer Tier threshold that apply to residential customers paying Tiered prices:
Summer Tier Thresholds / May 1, 2021 Tiered Prices
Tier 1 - 9.8¢/kWh
Residential – first 600 kWh/month
Non-residential – first 750 kWh/month
Tier 2 - 11.5¢/kWh
Residential – for electricity used above 600 kWh/month
Non-residential – for electricity used above 750 kWh/month
Power is personal
Residential and small business customers can choose their price plan, either TOU or Tiered pricing. Customers are not required to select a price plan but if they wish to switch, they must notify their utility by completing and submitting an election form. Customers can contact their utility or visit their utility's website for the election form.
Programs to support electricity customers
There are several programs in place to support electricity customers at this time, including:
- Support for residential, small business and registered charitable organization customers who have overdue amounts on their energy bills as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic is available through the COVID-19 Energy Assistance Program and the COVID-19 Energy Assistance Program for Small Business, both funded by the Government of Ontario.
- A number of programs are available to help low-income consumers. Find out more at oeb.ca/billhelp.
The OEB has also prohibited electricity distributors from issuing disconnection notices to residential customers for the duration of the provincewide stay-at-home measures. The earliest date a distributor may issue a disconnection notice is May 20.
SOURCE: Ontario Energy Board