Electricity prices dip Nov. 1, but Ontario's hydro rebate shrinks by a third

Regulated electricity prices in Ontario will fall on Nov. 1, but the provincial rebate on hydro bills is shrinking by about a third, the Ontario Energy Board (OEB) announced Friday.

The OEB said the Ontario government's Ontario Electricity Rebate (OER) will change to 15.7 per cent on Nov. 1. Last year, the OEB set it at 23.5 per cent. The rebate applies to the bills of residential, small business and farm customers.

"Electricity prices under the OEB's RPP are decreasing year-over-year, which allows for a reduction in the OER. The overall rate of increase for customer bills will remain consistent with previous years," the OEB said in its release. The RPP is the Regulated Price Plan that most homes, farms and small businesses pay under.

The OEB did not give a dollar or percentage figure for the overall bill increase. It said the impact for individual customers "may vary depending on the customer's electricity usage and the utility that serves them."

What the rebate is worth

For a typical residential customer using 700 kilowatt-hours a month, the OEB said the rebate "will decrease bills by about $23.00 each month." In its release a year ago, the OEB said the 23.5 per cent rebate was worth about $36 a month for the same customer.

By the Banner's calculation from those two OEB figures, that is about $13 a month less in rebate for a typical home, or roughly $156 over a year. That is not an OEB figure, and it does not include the lower electricity prices.

The new prices

The OEB's price report says the average supply cost for Regulated Price Plan customers from Nov. 1, 2026 to Oct. 31, 2027 is forecast at $118.88 per megawatt-hour, "a decrease of $9.03/MWh (7%)" from the $127.91 used to set last year's prices.

Winter time-of-use prices from Nov. 1:

• Off-peak (weekdays 7 p.m. to 7 a.m., all day weekends and holidays): 9.1 cents per kWh, down from 9.8 cents last year
• Mid-peak (weekdays 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.): 14.6 cents, down from 15.7 cents
• On-peak (weekdays 7 to 11 a.m. and 5 to 7 p.m.): 18.9 cents, down from 20.3 cents

Tiered prices for winter are 11.2 cents per kWh for the first 1,000 kWh a month for homes (750 kWh for non-residential customers, including farms and small businesses on the plan), and 13.2 cents above that. Last year's winter tiered prices were 12.0 and 14.2 cents.

On the Ultra-Low Overnight plan, the overnight price (11 p.m. to 7 a.m. every day) is 3.7 cents, and the weekday on-peak price (4 to 9 p.m.) is 37.7 cents. Weekend off-peak is 9.1 cents and mid-peak is 14.6 cents.

The OEB said residential, small business and farm customers can choose between time-of-use, tiered and ultra-low overnight pricing, and has a bill calculator at oeb.ca/choice.

Bruce Power in the price

The Bruce nuclear station near Tiverton is part of the cost behind those prices. The OEB's price report lists Bruce Power, "which has an output-based contract for generation from its Bruce A and B nuclear facilities," among the contracted costs it forecasts. The report says the 2015 amended contract between the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) and Bruce Power set an initial price of $65.73 per megawatt-hour for Bruce A and B output, indexed to inflation every April 1 and adjusted for asset management, waste fees and refurbishments.

The report also notes the IESO's contract for Ontario Power Generation's 2,140-megawatt Lennox gas-fired peaking plant. Earlier this month, the IESO said it bought 600 megawatts of winter capacity from a U.S. generator; the Banner reported on that deal here.

Winter disconnection ban

The OEB said electricity distributors cannot disconnect residential customers for non-payment from Nov. 15, 2026 to April 30, 2027. Help for low-income customers is listed at oeb.ca/billhelp and ontario.ca/yourelectricitybill.

What it means here

Rural Grey-Bruce homes and farms on the Regulated Price Plan get the same new prices and the same smaller rebate. Delivery charges are set separately for each local utility, which is why the OEB says total bills will vary. The OEB has not published a typical bill impact for farm customers.

Your turn

Will a smaller rebate change how you heat your home or run your barn this winter? Are you thinking about switching price plans? Tell us in the comments or write to news@chatsworthbanner.ca.