Ontario electricity rates increased by approximately 29 per cent on Saturday but the impact is expected to be offset for households by an increase in a provincial rebate program.
The Ontario Energy Board issued a report last week saying the price hike is due to the province’s higher-than-expected nuclear generation costs and higher-than-forecast conservation program expenses.
Residents in the province can choose from three regulated pricing plans for their electricity services. All three plans have increased in cost.
People who choose “time-of-use” plans will now pay an off-peak rate of 9.8 cents per kilowatt hour (previously 7.6 cents), 15.7 cents per kilowatt hour during mid-peak hours (previously 12.2 cents) and 20.3 cents per kilowatt hour during on-peak hours (previously 15.8 cent).
Customers on the separate “tiered plan” are now paying 12 cents per kilowatt hour for the first 1,000 kilowatt hours they consume (previously 9.3 cents), and 14.2 cents for every additional kilowatt hour (previously 11 cents).
Residents on the final pricing option, the “ultra low overnight” plan, will pay 3.8 cents per kilowatt hour for the ultra-low overnight period (previously 2.8), 15.7 cents per kilowatt hour for the mid-peak period (previously 12.2) and 39.1 cents per kilowatt hour for on-peak hours (previously 28.4).
The board said that customers who do not want to change their price plan do not need to do anything, and they will remain on their current price plan. If customers would like to switch their plan, they would need to notify their utility company by submitting a form.
The regulator stated that the Ontario Electricity Rebate, which applies as a credit on power bills for households in the province, will rise to 23.5 per cent from 13.1 per cent to help soften the blow from the increased prices. The rebate will allow a typical home using 700-kilowatt hours a month to have $36 removed from its bill.
The rebate is applied on the electricity bill of residential, small business and farm customers. It appears as a pre-tax credit at the bottom of electricity bills.
Some experts are warning that using provincial subsidies to offset the rising power costs is shifting the burden onto taxpayers.
The Ontario Clean Air Alliance, which opposes nuclear power generation, said in a statement last week that Premier Doug Ford’s government is using the rebate to “bury” the higher rates.
“Hiding these cost increases by increasing the Ontario Electricity Rebate won’t make them go away. This is a band-aid solution that does nothing to address the underlying reason for rising rates — dependence on expensive nuclear power,” the organization said in its statement.
“The bill for maintaining this taxpayer subsidy for electricity rates will now cost Ontario’s taxpayers much more than the $6 billion per year we’re already paying to artificially lower rates. This massive subsidy disguises the real cost of keeping the lights on with expensive nuclear reactors.”
CTV News Toronto contacted the Ontario Ministry of Energy and Mines on Monday for comment.
RELATED STORIES:
