Cheaper electricity use times change next week across Ontario

There will be changes to electricity pricing in Ontario next week.

The weather is slowly warming up and beginning on May 1, the summer price period will take effect for many customers in the province.

Those under the regulated price plan, which includes most households, small business, and farm customers, have three different options for billing.

Those are: time-of-use and ultra-low overnight, with prices changing depending on when power is used; there is also a tiered plan, with costs depending on how much electricity is used overall in a month.

Most customers in Ontario pay time-of-use rates.

There are two different price periods that occur during the year for the time-of-use plan, while ultra-low overnight stays the same all year. The residential tiered plan also sees a change biannually.

From Nov. 1 to April 30, the winter price period is in effect for time-of-use and from May 1 to Oct. 31, the summer period is in place.

They reflect different electricity consumption patterns in the province depending on the season.

That means beginning on May 1, for time-of-use customers, cheaper times to use electricity will be changing:

Here is a look at how time-of-use pricing will differ:

Off-peak hours will be from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m., which is the same as the winter period, but mid-peak will be from 7 a.m. until 11 a.m., as well as 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. On-peak hours will be from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

On weekends and holidays, off-peak rates apply all day.

The rates, which were set by the OEB last fall, will remain the same:

Off-peak: 9.8 ¢/kWh

Mid-peak: 15.7 ¢/kWh

On-peak: 20.3 ¢/kWh

The residential tiered threshold will also change come May 1. Tiered rates allow customers to use a certain amount of electricity at a particular price up to a certain threshold. Beyond that threshold, the rate changes.

Here is how that will differ come May 1:

As you can see, in the summer period the threshold for residential customers is lower than in the winter.

“The threshold changes with the season to reflect changing usage patterns – for example, there are fewer hours of daylight in the winter and some customers use electric heating,” the OEB says.

“In the winter period (Nov. 1 – April 30), the tier threshold for residential customers is 1,000 kWh, so that during the heating season households can use more power at the lower price. In the summer period (May 1 – Oct. 31), the tier threshold for residential customers is 600 kWh. The Tier threshold for small business customers is 750 kWh all year round.”

The rates, however, will remain the same:

Tier 1: 12.0 ¢/kWh

Tier 2: 14.2 ¢/kWh

And lastly, ultra-low overnight pricing remains the same all year and there won’t be any change come May 1:

For more information, visit the Ontario Energy Board’s website.