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What is Time of Use Pricing?
Time of Use pricing (also known as TOU) is pricing based on the time of day and day of the week that energy is used. Smart meters that measure hourly energy use make this kind of pricing possible. The pricing is determined by the Ontario Energy Board based on how much energy is used and how much energy is available in the province at different times.
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What are the Time Periods?
The Ontario Energy Board has established a winter and summer calendar.
Click Here for Time of Use Chart PDF.
There are three time-of-use periods identified:
- Off Peak (24 hours a day on weekends and holidays as well as evenings after 9pm): the demand for electricity and the cost is lowest.
- Mid Peak (Weekdays only – 11am – 5pm in the winter months): Moderate energy demand and price
- On Peak (Weekdays only – morning and early evening in winter months): times of the day when energy use and price is the highest.
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Will I pay more?
In the majority of cases, even if you do nothing to change your current energy use habits, your bill will stay very similar to where it is today.
If you choose to change some of your habits by doing things such as running your dishwasher before you go to bed, you can take advantage of the lower off-peak prices.
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What Can I do to Save Money?
- Try shifting some activities to off peak periods; for example, turning on the dishwasher before going to bed
- Turn your air conditioner up a degree or two during the on-peak periods.
- Plug electronic items such as TV, video game consoles, computers into a power bar that you can turn off.
- These items continue to use energy even when they are off.
- This “phantom” load can account for up to 10% of the energy use in your home
- Visit the conservation pages on our website for more energy conservation tips.
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Will I pay on-peak prices all the time?
On Peak pricing is only in effect about 20% of the time. 60% of the time, you will be paying Off Peak prices, which are lower than the Regulated Price Plan in effect today.
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What do I pay now?
The current regulated price plan rates are:
5.8 cents/kWh for the first 600 kWh per month
6.7 cents/kWh for all remaining energy used per month
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What if I have a Contract with an Energy Retailer?
If you have a contract with an energy retailer, you will continue to pay the contract price, even if you have a smart meter. When available, you will still be able to see your actual hourly energy use through our website. When your contract expires, that may be a good time to review your options.
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Do I have any other options?
You can opt out of the regulated price plan. You would then pay the actual Hourly Price for electricity. This price changes every hour of every day. This is the same price that many large industries already pay. The Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) has historical price information.
We will continue to update this page as we get closer to implementing Time of Use pricing.
For more information on Time of Use pricing:
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