Reading your bill
Please see below for some information that will help understand your bill
Essex Powerlines Bill Breakdown
This is the amount of electricity you used in kWh. On your bill, you will see a breakdown of your consumption by month, daily average, and by time-of-use periods.
The off-peak electricity consumption is shown in green on your bill. This is the least expensive period to consume electricity.
The mid-peak electricity consumption is shown in yellow on your bill. Electricity costs during mid-peak period are in the mid range.
The on-peak electricity consumption is shown in red. Electricity costs are most expensive during on-peak periods.
Essex Powerlines has 10-digit account numbers. This number is important when paying electricity bills, or when signing up for paperless billing.
Your bill will show you the meter readings for your current bill, as well as your previous bill. The difference between the two readings is equates to your base usage. The meter readings get adjusted using the “adjustment factor” which equates for losses during transmission. The current adjustment factor is 1.0355
Charges and Rebates
Delivery Charge
The delivery charge covers the cost of delivering electricity from generators to your home. This cost includes upgrading and maintaining electrical equipment, such as transmission and distribution lines, poles, towers, as well as costs to maintain operations of local electricity systems. This charge represents a small portion of your electricity bill. A portion of the delivery charges are fixed and do not change from month-to-month.
The delivery charge also includes the cost of electricity lost when it is distributed. When electricity travels over power lines, approximately 3.55% of it gets lost. This is because equipment, such as wires and transformers, consume power before it gets to your home (called “line losses”). To compensate for this loss, more power must be generated for you than you use. To combat costs, an “adjustment factor” is calculated by comparing the total amount of electricity we bought to the amount of electricity we deliver to the homes of and businesses of our customers. Adjustment factors must be approved by the Ontario Energy Board. This cost gets paid to our suppliers.
Ontario Electricity Rebate
The Ontario Electricity Rebate (“OER”) came into effect on November 1, 2019 and applies to customers’ bills to reduce the pre-HST amount of the bill. The OER replaced the Fair Hydro Plan adjustments to the price of electricity.
Regulatory Charges
These charges are for funding programs and is paid to the Independent Electricity System Operator, Ministry of Energy.
Customer Classes
Customer class represents the nature of the customer. The range of classes includes residential, general service (commercial-industrial) and large (industrial) users.