Electricity Rate Selection
If you’re a residential or small business customer, you can choose to switch between Time-of-Use (TOU), Tiered and Ultra-Low Overnight (ULO) prices. To switch price plans you must notify Essex Powerlines Corporation by completing an election form, which can be found below. If you have any questions about your pricing options or how to fill out the election form, please contact our Customer Service department at 519-737-6640.
What is Tiered Pricing?
With Tiered prices, you can use a certain amount of electricity each month at a lower price. Once that limit (called a threshold) is exceeded, a higher price applies. For residential customers, the threshold normally changes with the season to reflect changing usage patterns – for example, there are fewer hours of daylight in the winter and some customers use electric heating.
In the winter period (November 1 – April 30), the Tier threshold for residential customers is 1,000 kWh so that households can use more power at the lower price. In the summer period (May 1 – October 31), the Tier threshold for residential customers is 600 kWh.
For small business customers, the Tier threshold is 750 kWh all year round.
Tiered prices give you the flexibility to use electricity at any time of day at the same price, although that price will change if you exceed the threshold during the month.
What is TOU Pricing?
With TOU prices, the price depends on when you use electricity. You can help manage your electricity costs by shifting your usage to lower price periods when possible.
There are three TOU periods:
- Off-peak: When demand for electricity is lowest. Ontario households use most of their electricity – nearly two thirds of it – during off-peak hours.
- Mid-peak: When demand for electricity is moderate. These periods are during the daytime, but not the busiest times of day.
- On-peak: When demand for electricity is generally higher. These are the busier times of day- generally when people are cooking, starting up their computers and running heaters or air conditioners.
People use electricity differently depending on the season, so the TOU price periods are different in the winter than they are in the summer. For more information, visit our Time of Use page.
What is ULO Pricing?
You can help manage your electricity costs by shifting your usage to lower price periods when possible.
With ULO, there are four price periods:
- Ultra-Low Overnight: When demand for electricity is lowest on average.
- Weekend Off-peak: When demand for electricity is generally lower.
- Mid-peak: When demand for electricity is moderate.
- On-peak: When demand for electricity is highest on average.
What are the prices set for Time-of-Use vs. Tiered Vs. Ultra-Low Overnight ?
The prices below that are set by the OEB are shown in the graphs below.
Historical Rates can be found by clicking here.
Considering a Switch?
Are you thinking about changing your price plan? Here are a few things to consider. Make sure you have some of your recent electricity bills handy as you go through the information below. Most of the information you will need is on the Electricity line of your bill.
What electricity price plan are you on? If you’re unsure, take a look at the Electricity line of your bill. Most residential and small business customers in Ontario pay TOU prices.
How much electricity do you use in a month? If you’re unsure, take a look at the Electricity line on your bill. You might also want to look at the historical usage graph on your bill, which shows your average daily use over the past 12-month period.
When you use electricity can be another factor in your choice. Historically, the typical residential customer who paid TOU prices has used nearly two thirds of their power at off-peak times – the time when the lowest TOU price applies. The other third of their power used was typically split equally between on- and mid-peak times. Look at the Electricity line of your bill to see how much power you use in each of the three TOU price periods.
As described above, the TOU price periods and Tier thresholds change with the season and are different during the winter (November 1 – April 30) and summer (May 1 – October 31) periods. ULO price periods are the same all year round. Does the amount of electricity you use change based on the season?
If you’re thinking about switching price plans, you should pay close attention to how much electricity you use in a month, because on Tiered pricing the price is higher for every kWh of electricity that you use above the Tier threshold of 1,000 kWh in the winter or 600 kWh in the summer. For instance, if you heat your home electrically, your monthly use in the winter may be higher. And the same goes for the summer if you need to run an air conditioner.
With TOU and ULO prices, the price depends on when you use electricity. Although the TOU price periods also change with the season, the electricity you use after 7 p.m. every day, and all the time on weekends and holidays, is charged at the lowest price under TOU all year round. And with ULO, the price periods remain the same all year round.
Are you often home during the day on weekdays, so that shifting your usage is more challenging? Do you have large appliances that you need to run during the day on weekdays? Can you shift more of that usage to nighttime or weekend hours? Do you own an electric vehicle that you charge at home and at what times of day/night do you charge it?
If you’re a small business owner, some of the same factors mentioned earlier also apply – how much electricity do you use each month, and when do you use it? Keep in mind that the Tier threshold for small business customers is 750 kWh all year round. And not all small businesses are the same. A large restaurant with several ovens running in the evening may have a very different electricity usage pattern than a small salon that’s only open during the day. So may a dry cleaner compared to a convenience store, or a clothing store compared to a bakery.
To see how your bill might change on Tiered vs. Time-of-Use, visit oeb.ca/calculator.
Rules for TOU Customer Choice
If you don’t want to switch your price plan, you don’t need to do anything. You will stay on your current price plan.
If you do want to switch to a different price plan, here are the rules that apply. These rules also apply if you later want to switch to another price plan.
- Essex Powerlines must make the election form available on our website, and to any customer that requests it. Essex Powerlines must accept election forms by email or mail at a minimum.
- You’ll need to fill out the election form to notify Essex Powerlines that you want to switch. The form is intended to be as simple as possible in terms of the information that you need to provide. You should have a recent electricity bill on hand when filling out the form, as you will need your utility account number. For help to find the account number and other parts of the electricity bill, see sample TOU, ULO and Tiered bills on the Ontario Energy Board’s website at www.oeb.ca/choice.
- Within 10 business days of receiving your election form Essex Powerlines must tell you if your election form can’t be processed and must explain why (for instance, if you’re not authorized to make changes to the account, or the account can’t be verified).
- If there are no issues with your election form, Essex Powerlines the same 10 business days to let you know when you can expect to start being billed on your new price plan.
- A switch between price plans can only take effect at the start of a billing period. A billing period is generally around 30 days, but that can vary. The start and end dates are identified on your electricity bill.
- Essex Powerlines must start charging you under your requested price plan as of your next billing period after you submit your election form if it receives that form at least 10 business days before that billing period starts, and provided there are no issues with your form (see above).
- If Essex Powerlines receives your complete election form less than 10 business days before the start of your next billing period, it might still be able to switch you for your next billing period. But if it can’t do so, it must start charging you under your requested price plan at the start of the next billing period after that.
- Because a switch in prices can only take effect at the beginning of a billing period, it can take some time between the day you provide your election form and the day you actually start getting charged under your requested price plan. Between the time that you submit your election form and the time that your choice takes effect, you will continue to pay pricing under your old price plan.
- You can switch between price plans at any time. For example, if you switch from TOU to ULO, you are not locked in. You can switch back. The process described above applies.
- The choice between TOU and Tiered prices is available to residential and small business customers that have smart meters and are billed under the Ontario Energy Board’s Regulated Price Plan. Some residential and small business customers are charged Tiered prices because their meters can’t be used to bill TOU prices. They can’t switch to TOU or ULO prices at this time.
If you would like to learn more about your pricing options, visit www.oeb.ca/choice.
Frequently Asked Questions
If you’re a residential or small business customer, you can choose to switch between Time-of-Use (TOU), Tiered prices, Ultra-Low Overnight (ULO) price plan.
To switch price plans, you must notify Essex Powerlines by completing an election form. You can ask to switch price plans at any time. If you want to stay with your current price plan, no action is required.
With TOU prices, the price depends on when you use electricity.
There are three TOU price periods:
• Off-peak, when demand for electricity is generally lower. This price applies in the evenings on weekdays and all day on weekends. Every household and small business is different, but on average, Ontario households use nearly two thirds of their electricity during off-peak hours.
• Mid-peak, when demand for electricity is moderate. These periods are during the daytime, but not the busiest times of day.
• On-peak, when demand for electricity is generally higher. These are the busier times of day – generally when people are cooking, starting up their personal electronics and running heaters or air conditioners.
With TOU pricing, you can help manage your electricity costs by shifting your usage to lower price periods when possible.
With Tiered prices, you can use a certain amount of electricity each month at a lower price. Once that limit (called a threshold) is exceeded, a higher price applies. In the winter period (November 1 – April 30), the Tier threshold for residential customers is 1,000 kWh. In the summer period (May 1 – October 31), the Tier threshold for residential customers is 600 kWh. The Tier threshold for small business customers is 750 kWh all year round.
Tiered prices give you the flexibility to use electricity at any time of day at the same price, although that price will change if you exceed the threshold during the month.
With ULO prices, the price depends on when you use electricity.
There are four ULO price periods:
• Ultra-Low Overnight, when demand for electricity is lowest on average.
• Weekend Off-peak, when demand for electricity is generally lower.
• Mid-peak, when demand for electricity is moderate.
• On-peak, when demand for electricity is highest on average.
The ULO price periods are the same in the summer as they are in the winter.
The OEB sets TOU, Tiered and ULO prices based on a forecast of how much it will cost to supply TOU, Tiered and ULO customers with the electricity they are expected to use over the next 12 months, and to recover the same forecast average cost of supply. The OEB sets TOU, Tiered and ULO prices under the Regulated Price Plan. The Regulated Price Plan is designed to provide stable pricing, encourage conservation and ensure that the price customers pay for electricity better reflects the price paid to generators that produce the electricity that customers use in their homes or small businesses.
Electricity distributors are not allowed to make a profit from the sale of electricity.
The OEB typically sets TOU, Tiered and ULO prices once a year, for November 1, based on an estimate of how much it will cost to supply residential and small business customers on the Regulated Price Plan with the electricity that they are expected to use. The first ULO prices were set for May 1, 2023, and will be reset for November 1, 2023.
There is no guarantee you will save money if you switch price plans. The total bill impact of switching will vary depending on how much electricity you consume in a month and when it is consumed during the day.
Considering switching price plans? For more information, go to www.oeb.ca/choice and use the OEB’s bill calculator to estimate what your bill might look like if you switched price plans.
If you don’t want to switch price plans, you don’t need to do anything. You will stay on your current price plan.
If you do want to switch price plans, here are the rules that apply. These rules also apply if you later want to switch back or to another price plan.
• Essex Powerlines must make its election form available on its website, and to any customer that requests it. Essex Powerlines must accept election forms by email or mail at a minimum. You’ll need to fill out the election form to notify Essex Powerlines that you want to switch. The form is intended to be as simple as possible in terms of the information that you need to provide. You should have a recent electricity bill on hand when filling out the form, as you will need your utility account number.
• Within 10 business days of receiving your election form, Essex Powerlines must tell you if your election form can’t be processed and must explain why (for instance, if you’re not authorized to make changes to the account, or the account can’t be verified).
• If there are no issues with your election form, Essex Powerlines has the same 10 business days to let you know when you can expect to start being billed on your new price plan.
• A switch in price plans can only take effect at the start of a billing period. A billing period is generally about 30 days long, but that can vary. The start and end dates are identified on your electricity bill. Many customers are not billed based on a calendar month, and the start of your billing period can be any given day of a month.
o Essex Powerlines must start charging you on your new price plan as of your next billing period after you submit your election form if Essex Powerlines receives that form at least 10 business days before that billing period starts, and provided there are no issues with your form (see above).
o If Essex Powerlines receives your complete election form less than 10 business days before the start of your next billing period, Essex Powerlines might still be able to switch you for your next billing period. But if Essex Powerlines can’t do so, Essex Powerlines has to start charging you on your new price plan at the start of the next billing period after that.
o Because a switch in prices can only take effect at the beginning of a billing period, it could take some time between the day you provide your election form and the day you actually start getting charged on your new price plan.
The choice between TOU, Tiered and ULO prices is available to residential and small business customers that have smart meters and are billed under the OEB’s Regulated Price Plan.
Some residential and small business customers are charged Tiered prices because their meters can’t be used to bill TOU or ULO prices. They can’t switch to TOU or ULO prices at this time.
If you live in a condo or apartment that has its own individual meter and your bill comes from a company other than your electricity utility, you are a customer of a unit sub-meter provider (USMP). Customers of USMPs also can’t switch price plans. That decision can only be made for the building as a whole by the person that retained a USMP for the property. In most cases, the property manager, landlord or condominium board sets up this arrangement.
No. You will still receive the credit.
No. You will still receive the rebate.