Your electricity bill explained

Your electricity bill is comprised of three main components: Commodity, Delivery and Regulatory.

More about the Global Adjustment


Our transmission and distribution system safely and reliably serves communities throughout Ontario. Delivery rates pay for the cost for Hydro One to operate and maintain the low-voltage system that carries electricity from our transformer stations to distribution stations, to pole-top transformers through power lines, and into homes and businesses.

Hydro One System Diagram 



Click on a highlighted number/word on the sample bill below to jump to an explanation of that line item further down the page.

Or jump to: Electricity kWh | Demand - kW or kVA | Power factor | Electricity | Global Adjustment | Delivery |
Regulatory Charges | Ontario Electricity Rebate

Hydro One business customer bill - Page 2 - Sample Jump to Electricity - kWh Jump to Demand - kW and kVA Jump to Power Factor Jump to Electricity Jump to Global Adjustment Jump to Delivery Jump to Regulatory Charges Jump to Ontario Electricity Rebate

Click on a highlighted number/word on the sample bill below to jump to an explanation of that line item further down the page.

Or jump to: Electricity kWh | Demand kW or kVA | Power factor | Electricity | Global Adjustment | Delivery | Regulatory Charges | Ontario Electricity Rebate

image of a sample bill header image of a sample bill Electricity - kWh lines image of a sample bill Demand - kWh and kVA lines image of a sample bill Power Factor line image of a sample bill Electricity line image of a sample bill Global Adjustment lines image of a sample bill Delivery line image of a sample bill Regulatory line image of a sample bill Ontario Electricity Rebate line image of a sample bill Total Charges line



1. Electricity - kWh

Total electricity consumption in kWh adjusted by the total loss factor per rate category.

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2. Demand - kW and kVA

Demand units of measurement (kW & kVA) are used to calculate the delivery charge.

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3. Power Factor

Your power factor is the ratio of the amount of energy used to do real work (real power or kW) and the amount of total energy used to do that work (kVA). If the equipment draws too much reactive power, measured in kilovolt-amperes-reactive (kVAR), it can't work as efficiently, and it limits the capacity of our lines to deliver real power and quality voltage to the facility.

A power factor of less than 90% may negatively impact your bill.

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4. Electricity

The Electricity line item is invoiced based on the $/kWh rate. Options for paying the Electricity line item are:

  1. The Hourly Ontario Energy Price (HOEP) – also referred to as the wholesale or spot market price

  2. Regulated Price Plan (Time-of-use pricing)

  3. Per Energy Retailer Contract.

Service Size Electricity Price Options

Avg. Monthly Demand: >50kW & Annual Consumption: >250,000 kWh

Hourly Ontario Energy Price (HOEP) or Energy Retail Contract

Avg. Monthly Demand: <50kW or Annual Consumption: <250,000 kWh

Regulated Price Plan (RPP) - Time-of-Use or Energy Retail Contract

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5. Global Adjustment

The Global Adjustment (GA) line item is billed based on the $/kWh rate set monthly by the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO). This billing component was designed to reflect the difference between the Hourly Ontario Energy Price (HOEP) for electricity and the guaranteed rates paid for regulated and contracted generation. Some important characteristics of the Global Adjustment include:

  • It includes the cost to deliver conservation and demand management programs

  • All electricity consumers have to pay a share of the Global Adjustment. It is either bundled within the regulated price plan, or shown as a separate line item on their bill.

  • The Global Adjustment varies from month to month, responding to changes in the HOEP compared to contract prices of generation

  • Customers will be billed based on the first estimate of the GA. The latest GA is available the last business day of the preceding month on the IESO's website

  • The first estimate of the GA is comprised of three components:

    • An estimate of GA costs based on the one month previous

    • An estimate of Ontario’s power demand for the current month

    • A true-up for the difference between the previous month’s 1st Estimate and the Actual rate

  • When the HOEP is high, the GA is lower, and vice versa

  • The GA can also increase as new generation projects come into service, contract payments take effect, or as a result of a high demand for electricity

  • Class B Methodology is the Total adjusted for loss consumption (kWh) for the billing period multiplied by the first Estimate of Global Adjustment, which is what makes up the dollar amount shown on your invoice.

Billing Example

The Billing Period is February 11 to March 14 and total usage is 497,094.65 kWh.

  • 10.559 ¢/kWh – 1st Estimate February

  • 8.409 ¢/kWh – 1st Estimate March

Billing Period Total kWh 1st Estimate Total

February 11 to 28

355,196.82

$0.10559

$37,505.23

March 1 to 14

141,897.84

$0.08409

$11,932.19

February 11 to March 14

497,094.65

$0.09945

$49,437.42

Class A consumers are assessed their portion of GA costs based on the percentage that their peak demand contributes to the top five Ontario system peaks. Learn more about our Industrial Conservation Initiative (ICI) (Class A). For additional information on Class B Global Adjustment, please visit the IESO's website.

Graph showing the average Global Adjustment prices in cents per kilowatt hour compared to the average weighted Ontario Energy price from 2008 to 2018

Source: http://www.ieso.ca/Power-Data/Price-Overview/Global-Adjustment

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6. Delivery
7. Regulatory Charges
8. Ontario El​ectricity Rebate
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