Ontario Energy Minister Glenn Thibeault held a news conference outside an east end Barrie home to announce new test pricing for electricity.
Three utilities in Ontario, including Alectra in Simcoe County, will run pilot projects to explore different pricing structures for electricity bills.
Phase 1 of Alectra's expanded Advantage Power Pricing pilot program begins Friday with up to 10,000 Alectra Utilities customers voluntarily participating for the chance to save up to $500.
"We're turning to the need to give consumers greatly flexibility and choice in their electricity pricing plans," said Thibeault.
"A retired couple living in Barrie should be offered a different pricing plan than the young professional condo dweller living in downtown Toronto."
One Barrie couple who's already been participating in the initial Advanced Pricing Pilot that began in 2015 hosted the dignitaries and lauded the plan.
"The results my husband and I have seen are fantastic. We have saved almost $400 all within the pricing structure that fits our family's lifestyle and patterns," said homeowner and small business owner Barbara Armstrong.
"The concept of getting up, getting a load of laundry through the washer and dryer before 7 in the morning for somebody like me who is retired isn't going to happen so this is great," added her husband Alex.
The three pilot projects are:
1. Advantage Power Pricing - Enhanced Plan: The Enhanced plan is similar to the Time-ofUse plan that has been available to Ontarians since 2007, but it has one key change: a bigger difference between On-peak and Off-peak prices. This wider rate gap lets participants cut electricity costs if they shift their usage to Off-peak hours.
2. Advantage Power Pricing - Dynamic Plan: The Dynamic plan features a peak period between 3:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. on weekdays (holidays excluded) where the rate is either Low, Medium or High. At all other times on this plan an Off-peak rate applies. This rate is lower than standard Time-of-Use rates. Customers are alerted a day in advance as to what rate they will have for those peak periods. This gives them the opportunity to adjust their usage accordingly. Additionally, the Dynamic plan includes six Critical Peak Pricing periods which will last for four hours each. These critical periods will be planned to occur during times the system is under the most demand in the winter and summer seasons.
3. Advantage Power Pricing - Overnight Plan: The Overnight plan features a similar schedule to standard Time-of-Use, but with the addition of a Super Off-peak rate from 12:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m. This is designed for customers with large flexible loads, like electric vehicles, or who work shifts, to use electricity when system costs are low.
The utilities are also testing giving customers smart thermostats to help them control electricity usage.
Alectra President and CEO Brian Bentz said the plan is about empowering consumers.
"To give them more choice so that they can save money by using electricity in more off-peak periods than on-peak periods and it has the added benefit of reducing the strain on the electricity system as well. So consumers save money, they have more choice and the power grid has less strain on it," Bentz said.
Barrie MPP Ann Hoggarth called it an 'exciting pilot project.'
"The expansion of Alectra's pilot project means that more families in Barrie have the opportunity to save on their monthly electricity bills. Through this innovative project, customers are given more options to take control of their electricity usage and reduce household energy costs," Hoggarth said.
Thibeault noted the governments recent reductions in electricity costs under the Fair Hydro Plan and how the system is now 'clean.'
"We also don't have smog days in Ontario anymore. But that did come with a cost," he said.
"Today's announcement is about fairness and choice. We can do that with our internet packages and our cable packages. We need to start evolving."
For more information visit Alectra Utilities
