My Business Bill Explained - kWh Tiered Pricing

As an electricity consumer in Ontario you receive a bill that shows each of the individual charges that make up the costs of delivering electricity to your business from generators, as well as the cost to purchase that electricity for you.

As a small business customer who typically uses less than 50 kilowatts (kW) of electricity on average per month, you are set up with a digital or standard meter that is capable of measuring kilowatt-hours (kWh). Small businesses receive bills based on just kilowatt hours used, similar to homes, or bills based on kilowatt hours and demand for more energy-intensive applications.

The sample bill below will help you understand how those charges have been separated, and show you how they appear on your bill. Simply position your mouse over a number, and click. You will be directed to an explanation for that section of the bill. You can also scroll down to get to the same information.

To find out how your small business electricity rates are calculated, see Rates and Pricing. 

 

Ontario Clean Energy Benefit

  

Ontario Clean Energy BenefitThe Ontario Clean Energy Benefit will provide customers a 10 per cent rebate on the total cost of electricity charges related to electricity consumption on their bills, including HST, effective January 1, 2011. This rebate will be in effect for five years until December 31, 2015. Learn more.

  


Front of bill

Front of Bill - General Service on RPP

1. Service address is the premises address being charged for usage.
2. Your account number. If you pay through your financial institution, ATM, by phone, or Internet, you will need it for reference.  
3. How to contact us. 
4. A summary of what you owe. Calculation details can be found on the back of the bill. 
5. The date after which a late payment charge will apply. (A late payment charge of 1.5 per cent per month (19.58 per cent per year) will be applied to your next bill if your payment is not received by the stated date.) 
6. Watch this area for important messages from Hydro One Networks. 
7. Our province-wide 24-hour power outage and emergency number. Keep it handy for future reference. 
8. Standard Service Supplied by Hydro One will show on the bill of customers who are not enrolled with a retailer. 
9. This comparison chart details your average electricity use per day. It will appear on every bill, as required by the government. The chart indicates if your read is based on an actual or estimated read. 
10. Your remittance stub. To make a payment by mail, detach it and include it with your payment. Please be sure the return address shows through the envelope window. (This section will be blank if you are enrolled in our Pre-Authorized Payment Option or if you have a credit on your account.) 

Back of bill

Back of Bill - General Service on RPP

11.
 Balance forward shows the amount of your previous bill, payments made since, and any difference. 

12. Your electrical service will fall into one of the following classifications: Urban Density, Single Phase or Three Phase accounts.  
13. Your electricity consumption calculation includes your meter reading, the date we read it and whether your bill is based on an actual meter reading or an estimate. Your meter calculation should contain references to kWh. If you see references to kW, go to Your Bill Explained (kWh & kW)

14.
 Metered usage in kilowatt-hours shows the amount of electricity you used based on your actual or estimated meter reading.

When electricity is transmitted over distances and passes through lines and transformers, a small percentage is lost naturally. Line losses are an unavoidable part of delivering electricity. Therefore, we must purchase a small amount more than what you use. To determine the amount of electricity that we need to buy for you, we use a calculation called an adjustment factor to adjust your usage.

The line item Adjusted usage in kilowatt-hours shows the amount of electricity you used after adjustment for line losses. The adjustment factor is used to account for the line losses in the electricity system that are not measured by your own meter. The adjustment factor is approved by the Ontario Energy Board and will vary according to your service type. The adjustment factor on the sample bill is 1.092.

15.
 Electricity
Effective May 1, 2012, the first 750 kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity you use each month will be priced at 7.5 cents per kWh. Each kWh you use above 750 kWh per month will be priced at 8.8 cents per kWh. These prices are set by the OEB. We pass these prices to you with no mark-up or profit.

The OEB reviews electricity prices every six months and resets prices, if necessary.

If you are currently buying your electricity from a retailer (or have recently signed a new contract) and are paying their contract price, you will continue to pay the price set out in your contract.

The Electricity charge is calculated based on adjusted usage (amount of electricity we purchased on your behalf after adjustment for line losses).


16.
Delivery
These are the costs of delivering electricity from generating stations across the Province to Hydro One, then to your home or business. This includes the costs to build and maintain the transmission and distribution lines, towers and poles, and operate provincial and local electricity systems. A portion of these charges are fixed and do not change from month to month. The rest are variable and increase or decrease depending on the amount of electricity that you use.

The majority of the variable charges are calculated based on metered usage, with the reminder of the variable costs calculated based on the adjusted usage (amount of electricity we purchased on your behalf after adjustment for line losses).

Delivery charges are set according to your service type.  

17.
Regulatory charges
This includes the cost of services required to operate the electricity system and run the wholesale market. The majority of these charges are variable and increase or decrease depending on the amount of your adjusted usage (amount of electricity we purchased on your behalf after adjustment for line losses). The Ontario Energy Board regulates these charges.


18.
Debt retirement charge
The charge used to pay down the debt of the former Ontario Hydro. This charge is based on your metered usage, so it will vary.

19. The Ontario Clean Energy Benefit
The Ontario Clean Energy Benefit is a 10% rebate that is applied to the following charges: Electricity, Delivery, Regulatory Charges, the Debt Retirement Charge, Global Adjustment (if applicable) and HST. This rebate is effective for electricity consumed from January 1, 2011 to December 31, 2015 and will help eligible customers as we transition to a cleaner, modern electricity system.

20. Shows any one-time adjustments as they relate to your current bill, such as account set-up charge, late payment charges and other miscellaneous fees and credits. 

21.
 These meter dials are provided should you choose to review your electricity usage. 


22.
 Every bill includes a standard glossary of terms, which was written by the Ministry of Energy and electricity distributors, and tested by consumers.  

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