The Ontario Energy Board (OEB) announced on Tuesday that new electricity prices for households and small businesses will take effect November 1. Winter time-of-use (TOU) hours will also take effect on that date.
The rate increase varies depending on the time of day with on-peak hours seeing the largest increase.
Off-peak hours will increase by 3.6 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) to 10.1¢/kWh, mid-peak by five cents to 14.4 ¢/kWh, and on-peak by 7.4 cents to 20.8¢/kWh.
In a media release, the OEB said that “The total bill for a typical residential customer who uses 700 kWh per month will increase by about $1.99 or 1.8 per cent, which is in line with the rate of inflation.”
The OEB added that the rate increase is a result of an increase in the forecast cost of supply, and that the “Ontario government has introduced an expanded rebate (the Ontario Electricity Rebate) providing bill relief that will be applied to customer bills, largely offsetting the price changes on the Electricity line.”
The increase is in addition to existing delivery and regulatory charges. You can see the other charges applied by local power suppliers (effective as of May 1, 2019) at the links below:
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Nowadays, the pursuit of full control over the resources of enriched raw materials, whether renewable or classic non-renewable energy sources, by powerful corporations is becoming a weapon more threatening to mankind than a nuclear arms race. Ontario is no exception. A small but very adequate example of what may soon await us.
For Peggy Mills, an elderly resident of rural McArthur’s Mills near Bancroft, the weight of
increasing bill payments for electricity became insurmountable. Being on a fixed income she was unable
to keep up with her monthly Hydro One bill along with her arrears payments. Hydro One disconnected
service to the 74-year-old pensioner in the summer of 2016. Her story was recounted in the Toronto
Star. Mills explained that she was unable to deal with rising bills despite trying to reduce her
consumption. After being disconnected she had to cope with losing her electricity as well as her water
supply. Being a rural householder, her water pump won’t work without power.
Such examples can be given in hundreds or perhaps thousands of cases.
Mike Harris’ government has made a lot of changes. In my opinion, good changes that can stop the avalanche of price rises.
The splitting up of Ontario Hydro and the commercialization of municipal utilities – Hydro
One assumed control over Ontario Hydro’s transmission and distribution assets and business
operations. Its generation assets were transferred to Ontario Power Generation. Municipal
utilities were also disentangled from municipal government and legislation and transformed into
commercial enterprises
• The modernization of the regulatory regime for the electricity sector — the Ontario Energy
Board (OEB) assumed responsibility for distribution and transmission licensing and rate-setting
as well as electricity pricing
• The unbundling of charges on customer bills –There are now separate charges for electricity
(per kilowatt-hour), and delivery of power (transmission and distribution), all set by the OEB.
The changes came into force but the principles of economic policy and unhealthy practices of Hydro One did not change. With the same amount of determination that the owners of Hydro One have shown for almost a century, they still decide what kind of electricity bill we will have to pay.
I really hope inflation isn’t 1.55% this year…
This $1.99 increase for 700KW doesn’t match up to my math either. I converted my usage down to 700 KW by averaging the amounts down to about 28% of what I currently use.
Old Res Rates (699.41 KW)
20.5195473
11.50884394
27.54964745
Total: $59.58
New Res Rates (699.41 KW)
31.8512376
17.63056944
42.80791373
Total: $92.29
A $30 a month increase doesn’t sound too bad, except we are heading into Winter and if you heat with electricity, that number is going to be huge. I won’t be surprised if we see people losing their homes or a greater need for the food bank as a result of this. Also, $30 a month is MUCH more than $1.99.
It’s simple.
Hydro one and the politicians all think the public
are deaf, dumb, blind and stupid.
In most cases nothing will be said!
They relay on our ignorance and fear of not knowing what the future holds.
This is Canada!
Must be a young person with today’s math that they teacher in school today. No time tables !!! and such.
I agree with Murray Christenson. It’s disingenuous, if not outright dishonest, to claim this is a 1.8% increase! We’re not all that gullible, Hydro One.
Is this one of the “putting more money in your pocket” promises made by Mr. Ford?
$1.99 increase for 700KWh? Is this the new fake math? 700 x 3.9 cents (the lowest increase) is $27.30. What dumb excuse might be given for such promotional nonsense?
This is a massive increase in electricity pricing. What the …?
So this is confusing…when I went to school, an increase to 10.1 cents per kwh from 6.5 cents per kwh equaled a 55% increase. Pretty sure that’s a touch more than cost of living. What am I missing here?