Ontario Energy Board sets new electricity prices for households and small businesses

TORONTO, Dec. 15, 2020 /CNW/ - Today, the Ontario Energy Board (OEB) announced new electricity prices for households and small businesses, effective January 1, 2021, under the Regulated Price Plan (RPP). The OEB last set RPP prices for November 1, 2020.

The RPP prices have been lowered to reflect a significant change in the cost of supplying electricity to RPP customers. Specifically, a portion of renewable energy contract costs currently funded by electricity ratepayers will now be funded by the Ontario Government. This initiative was announced as part of the 2020 Ontario Budget, and a new regulation has been made to support the initiative. 

Typical residential customer bills to be held stable

The Government is also decreasing the Ontario Electricity Rebate (OER) from 33.2% to 21.2% effective January 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 700kWh of electricity per month.

New RPP prices starting January 1, 2021

The new RPP Time-of-Use (TOU) prices set by the OEB for January 1, 2021 are shown in the table below. The table also shows the hours to which those prices apply:

The table below shows the new RPP prices for customers paying Tiered prices:

The winter TOU price periods and the winter tier threshold for residential customers that took effect on November 1, 2020 are not changing on January 1, 2021.

Programs to support electricity customers

There are a number of programs in place to support electricity customers at this time, including:

• Support for residential, small business and charitable organization customers that are struggling to pay 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.
• There are also a number of programs available to help low-income consumers. Find out more at oeb.ca/billhelp 

In addition, under the OEB's winter disconnection ban electricity distributors cannot disconnect residential customers for non-payment from November 15 to April 30.

Additional Information and Resources

• Read our Backgrounder
• Read the RPP Decision Letter
• Learn more about the COVID-19 Energy Assistance programs at oeb.ca/ceap
• Find out about low-income bill payment support programs at oeb.ca/billhelp
• For information about choosing a price plan, visit oeb.ca/choice
• Learn more about the Province's electricity support programs at ontario.ca/yourelectricitybill  

About the Ontario Energy Board

The OEB is the independent regulator of Ontario's electricity and natural gas sectors. It protects consumers and makes decisions that serve the public interest. Its goal is to promote a sustainable and efficient energy sector that provides consumers with reliable energy services at a reasonable cost.

Contact Us

For more information, please visit the OEB website at oeb.ca or contact us directly.

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SOURCE Ontario Energy Board