Residential and small business customers that are currently paying Time-of-Use (TOU) electricity prices can switch to Tiered pricing, or switch from Tiered pricing to TOU pricing at anytime.

Considering a Switch?

Here are some things you should consider before you switch between electricity price plans.

 Your current price plan.
Do you pay TOU or Tiered prices for your electricity? 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.
Your current usage. 
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 usage over the past 12-month period. 
 Your consumption patterns.
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. 
 Seasonal changes and time of year.
The TOU price periods and Tier thresholds change with the seasons and are different during the winter (November 1 – April 30) and summer (May 1 – October 31) periods. Does the amount of electricity you use change based on the season? 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 your air conditioner.  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.
 Your lifestyle.

Is someone 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? Do you charge an Electric Vehicle at home? Can you shift more of that usage to overnight or weekend hours? 
 Small Business Operations.
Look at the nature of your business operations. The Tier threshold for small business customers is 750 kWh all year round. 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.

OEB Bill Calculator 

The Ontario Energy Board offers a Bill Calculator for customers to see which plan is best. For more information on Time-of-Use and Tiered Pricing and tools to help you decide which price structure is right for you, please visit www.oeb.ca/choice.

Change Your Electricity Rate Plan

You can change the electricity price plan at anytime 24/7 through My Account.

  1. Register or login to My Account. 
  2. From My Account dashboard, select Smart Meter from the left navigation menu.
  3. Select $Price Comparison button to compare TOU and Tiered pricing based on your actual and historical usage.
  4. Select Change My Rate Plan button.
  5. Select Submit Change Request button. 

    Note: The change in the Electricity Rate Plan will not take effect until your next meter read date. Your read dates can be found on your bill under the ‘billing period.’ You should receive written confirmation of this change request within 10 business days.

Frequently-Asked Questions

Who is Eligible to Switch Their Electricity Price Plan?
Customers who are on TOU or Tiered prices are eligible to make the switch. Customers who have a contract with a retailer or who are paying the spot market price are NOT eligible to switch pricing plans at this time.
How Do I Know If I Should Switch My Price Plan?
To help you make an informed decision, you can use the OEB Bill Calculator that will provide you an estimate on whether you may benefit financially from making a switch. Note: The consumption values are for information purposes only, and unlike billed values, are not loss factor adjusted.
When is the Deadline to Make a Rate Plan Switch?
There is no deadline to make the switch. In addition, you will have the flexibility to request a switch back at any time, as your needs change.
 About Time-of-Use (TOU) Prices

The Ontario Energy Board releases details on the Time-of-Use and Tiered rates in November each year.

With TOU prices, the price depends on when you use electricity as well as on the season (winter or summer). You can help manage your electricity costs by shifting your usage to lower price periods when possible.  
 About Tiered Prices

The Ontario Energy Board introduced details on the Tiered electricity rate plan. 

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/month 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. 

The Tiered pricing threshold of 1,000 kwh in the winter and 600 kwh in the summer (residential) and 750 kwh year round (commercial) is based on a 30-day billing period. When your billing period is less than 30 days, your threshold is prorated accordingly.

 Tiered electricity rates chart

  
 After I Switch, When Will the New Price Plan Rates Show Up On My Bill?

Your request to switch rate plan will be processed by GrandBridge Energy (formerly Energy+) in the next 10 business days of receiving the request to change through My Account. A switch from TOU to Tiered prices can only take effect at the start of a billing period.

We do not bill residential and small commercial customers on a calendar month of usage. For example, a customer's meter reading dates could be October 15 - November 14.  This customer would be billed TOU rates for the bill covering electricity used from October 15 - November 14.  The customers next reading date would be November 15 - December 14.  The customer would then be billed Tiered rates for the bill covering the electricity used from November 15 - December 14.  The switch can only be performed once all of the electricity is used on or after November 1st.
How Many Times Can I Switch Price Plans?
You can switch back and forth as many times as you like between TOU and Tiered pricing.

Family around island Residential customers can now switch from time of use rates to tiered rates

 

Small business can now switch from time of use rates to tiered rates.