During the years spanning 2008 - 2017 the cost of hydro in Ontario skyrocketed by 133% (or 14.8% annually), hurting consumers and crippling businesses. Bowing to public pressure and in an effort to get re-elected the Wyne liberal government decided to subsidize the cost of electricity for residential consumers starting in 2017. This resulted in a 26% decrease in the cost of electricity for most homeowners but created a future liability that will eventually cost Ontario taxpayers nearly 40 Billion dollars.
So, rather than cutting costs and increasing efficiency, or making consumers pay for the true cost of electricity production, the master "plan" is to just pile the electricity debt onto the other unsustainable debt of the Ontario government.
Columns 3 and 4 below refer to the rates that apply to conventional meters (not time-of-use billing). In this case you are charged the lower rate for the first x kWh used in the month, then you pay the higher rate for the remainder of your consumption. The value if x is indicated by the Threshold value in column 5. Most Ontario residents are now on time-of-use billing so the On-Peak, Mid-Peak and Off-Peak rates apply. Here are the Smart Meter Time Periods.
|
From |
To |
Low Threshold |
High Threshold |
Threshold Level |
On Peak |
Mid Peak |
Off Peak |
Blended Rate |
Year over Year % Increase |
1-May-2002 |
31-Mar-2004 |
4.3 |
4.3 |
N/A |
|
|
|
4.30 |
|
1-Apr-2004 |
30-Apr-2005 |
4.7 |
5.5 |
750 |
|
|
|
5.00 |
16.28% |
1-Apr-2005 |
31-Oct-2005 |
5.0 |
5.8 |
750 |
|
|
|
5.30 |
6.00% |
1-Nov-2005 |
31-Mar-2006 |
5.0 |
5.8 |
1000 |
|
|
|
5.13 |
2.60% |
1-May-2006 |
31-Oct-2006 |
5.8 |
6.7 |
600 |
10.5 |
7.5 |
3.5 |
5.48 |
3.40% |
1-Nov-2006 |
30-Apr-2007 |
5.5 |
6.4 |
1000 |
9.7 |
7.1 |
3.4 |
5.2 |
1.36% |
1-May-2007 |
31-Oct-2007 |
5.3 |
6.2 |
600 |
9.2 |
7.2 |
3.2 |
5 |
-8.76% |
1-Nov-2007 |
31-Mar-2008 |
5.0 |
5.9 |
1000 |
8.7 |
7.0 |
3.0 |
4.746 |
-8.73% |
1-Apr-2008 |
31-Oct-2008 |
5.0 |
5.9 |
600 |
9.3 |
7.3 |
2.7 |
4.716 |
-5.68% |
1-Nov-2008 |
30-Apr-2009 |
5.6 |
6.5 |
1000 |
8.8 |
7.2 |
4.0 |
5.44 |
14.62% |
1-May-2009 |
31-Oct-2009 |
5.7 |
6.6 |
600 |
9.1 |
7.6 |
4.2 |
5.694 |
20.74% |
1-Nov-2009 |
30-Apr-2010 |
5.8 |
6.7 |
1000 |
9.3 |
8.0 |
4.4 |
5.93 |
9.01% |
1-May-2010 |
31-Oct-2010 |
6.5 |
7.5 |
600 |
9.9 |
8.0 |
5.3 |
6.614 |
16.16% |
1-Nov-2010 |
30-Apr-2011 |
6.4 |
7.4 |
1000 |
9.9 |
8.1 |
5.1 |
6.504 |
9.68% |
1-May-2011 |
31-Oct-2011 |
6.8 |
7.9 |
600 |
10.7 |
8.9 |
5.9 |
7.304 |
10.43% |
1-Nov-2011 |
30-Apr-2012 |
7.1 |
8.3 |
1000 |
10.8 |
9.2 |
6.2 |
7.568 |
16.36% |
1-May-2012 |
31-Oct-2012 |
7.5 |
8.8 |
600 |
11.7 |
10.0 |
6.5 |
8.066 |
10.43% |
1-Nov-2012 |
30-Apr-2013 |
7.4 |
8.7 |
1000 |
11.8 |
9.9 |
6.3 |
7.938 |
4.89% |
1-May-2013 |
31-Oct-2013 |
7.8 |
9.1 |
600 |
12.4 |
10.4 |
7.8 |
9.096 |
12.77% |
1-Nov-2013 |
30-Apr-2014 |
8.3 |
9.7 |
1000 |
12.9 |
10.9 |
7.2 |
8.892 |
12.02% |
1-May-2014 |
31-Oct-2014 |
8.6 |
10.1 |
600 |
13.5 |
11.2 |
7.5 |
9.246 |
1.65% |
1-Nov-2014 |
30-Apr-2015 |
8.8 |
10.3 |
1000 |
14 |
11.4 |
7.7 |
9.5 |
6.84% |
1-May-2015 |
31-Oct-2015 |
9.4 |
11 |
600 |
16.1 |
12.2 |
8 |
10.214 |
10.47% |
1-Nov-2015 |
30-Apr-2016 |
9.9 |
11.6 |
1000 |
17.5 |
12.8 |
8.3 |
10.59 |
11.47% |
1-May-2016 |
31-Oct-2016 |
10.3 |
12.1 |
600 |
18 |
13.2 |
8.7 |
11 |
7.7% |
1-Nov-2016 |
30-Apr-2017 |
10.3 |
12.1 |
1000 |
18 |
13.2 |
8.7 |
11 |
3.87% |
1-May-2017 |
31-Oct-2017 |
9.1 |
10.6 |
600 |
15.7 |
11.3 |
7.7 |
9.8 |
-3.66% |
1-Nov-2017 |
30-Apr-2018 |
7.7 |
9 |
1000 |
13.2 |
9.5 |
6.5 |
8.12 |
-26.18% |
1-May-2018 |
30-Apr-2019 |
7.7 |
8.9 |
600 |
13.2 |
9.4 |
6.5 |
8.1 |
0% |
|
Here we see that rate increases in Ontario have far out paced the annual inflation rate as given by Stats Canada's CPI index.