Residents may soon notice a slight change in their electricity bills.
The Ontario Energy Board (OEB) announced price changes for households, small businesses, and farms on Tuesday. Winter time-of-use rates and changes in the threshold for residential customers on tiered pricing came into effect on November 1.
Bluewater Power President and CEO Janice McMichael-Dennis said the province sets out new electricity commodity rates every year.
"There's nothing ever simple about it but it can all be boiled down to that the average residential customer out there, as a result of these new rates that are applicable, will pay about $2.26 more a month," she said.
McMichael-Dennis said the increase is the net amount after considering the Ontario Electricity Rebate. Also effective November 1, the rebate will increase to 19.3 per cent.
"Without that rebate coming into play, we would have been sitting at a higher increase. So that's a net result with the $2.26 per month for that typical residential customer," she said. "That's electricity only, a lot of bills will have water on it but your electricity bill only will be going up by about $2 a month."
Through the tiered price plan, residential customers will be charged 10.3 cents per kilowatt-hour for the first 1,000 kWh.
However, customers on a time-of-use plan will see the lowest pricing of 8.7 cents per kWh during off-peak hours and the highest rate of 18.2 cents per kWh during on-peak hours.
"So your best bet, if you're on time-of-use pricing, is to attempt to use power after 7 p.m. in the evening [on weekdays] and just before 7 a.m.," said McMichael-Dennis.
A full pricing chat with details about the new rates can be found on the OEB's website.
