The Government of Ontario is Investigating Options for a New Ultra-Low Overnight Electricity Rate.
Ontario’s Energy Minister Todd Smith has asked the Ontario Energy Board (OEB) to provide him with options to implement a new ultra-low overnight Time-of-Use electricity price plan as the province continues to try and provide Ontario families with more ways to have control of their energy bills.
Minister Smith’s letter to the OEB requests the OEB to examine and report back by April 2022 on potential designs for a new optional Time-of-Use price plan featuring an ultra-low overnight rate. The government will consider the OEB’s report along with stakeholder feedback received through the public consultation on the Environmental Registry of Ontario with the intention of making the new price plan available to customers by April 2023.
OSPE’s Energy Task Force has been advocating for many years for this new price plan, and we are pleased to see that the government is seriously looking at this possibility. OSPE agrees that the new ultra-low overnight rate could help shift workers and residential consumers that use more electricity at night save money while supporting electric vehicle (EV) adoption, by reducing overnight EV charging costs when province-wide electricity demand is lower.
Energy Task Force Member, Emily Thorn Corthay, P.Eng. describes this policy option as one that could “stimulate new demand for currently wasted or curtailed electricity during overnight hours which would in fact lower the overall electricity grid system $ per kWh (if the policy is designed properly).” In addition, OSPE believes this can provide environmental benefits by reducing the need to bring on natural gas peaker plants during the day when demand is higher because some of that electricity demand can be satisfied at night.
Energy Task Force Chair, Steve Pepper, P.Eng. agrees that “the new ultra-low overnight rate could help residential consumers that use more electricity at night, save money while supporting electric vehicle (EV) adoption, by reducing overnight EV charging costs when province-wide electricity demand is lower.”
Read OSPE’s Full Submission here: Ontario Investigating Options for New Ultra-Low Overnight Electricity Rates
