On Saturday, May 30, Greg Rickford, Minister of Energy, Northern Development and Mines, issued the following statement on electricity rate relief measures during the COVID-19 outbreak.
"Our government is committed to supporting families and business-owners as we plan for the safe and gradual reopening of the province. Since March 24, 2020, we have invested just over $175 million to deliver emergency rate relief to residential, farm and small business electricity consumers by suspending time-of-use (TOU) electricity pricing. This investment was made to protect the people of Ontario from a marked increase in electricity rates as they did their part by staying home to prevent the further spread of the virus."
Rickford said that the Ford government is extending the suspension of time-of-use pricing "to provide consumers with greater stability and predictability with their electricity bills."
The government will introduce a fixed electricity price, known as the COVID-19 Recovery Rate, of 12.8 cents per kWh, which will be automatically applied to all time-of-use customers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This fixed electricity price will be in place from June 1 - October 31, 2020.
According to the statement, the COVID-19 Recovery Rate of 12.8¢/kWh is based on the average cost of electricity, set by the Ontario Energy Board.
Prior to the suspension of time-of-use pricing, a typical residential Hydro One customer in Pelham was paying an on-peak rate of 20.8 cents/kWh, mid-peak rate of 14.4 cents/kWh, and an off-peak rate of 10.1 cents/kWh.
The new rate effectively splits the difference between the previous mid-peak and off-peak rates.
The statement said that further details would be announced at the Premier's daily briefing on Monday, June 1, 2020 at 1:00 PM.
