Supporting Ontario's clean energy future

Effective January 1, 2026

The new EVC Rate will apply to eligible Electric Vehicle (EV) charging stations throughout the province, reducing the Retail Transmission Service Rates (RTSRs) they pay.

Introduced by the Ontario Energy Board (OEB), the rate supports efficient EV infrastructure integration and reflects the cost impact of low load factor chargers.

Interested in finding out what your EV charging station monthly cost of power will be?

Request a cost of power estimate

Start EVC rate application form

What is the EVC Rate?

Eligible EV charging stations pay only 17 per cent of the standard RTSR charges. The RTSRs are existing components of the delivery charge, recovering the cost of transmitting electricity over the high-voltage transmission system.

Components of the RTSR:

Network Service Rate

Covers the cost of moving electricity across the 500 kV, 230 kV and 115 kV system.

Transformation & Line Connection Service Rates

Line Connection Service Rate

Covers the cost of moving electricity across the peripheral transmission facilities enroute to be stepped down for distribution.

Transformation Connection Service Rate

Covers the cost for the use of the transformer to step down the power from transmission to distribution voltages.

Rate comparison

See the below example of the billing line items under the delivery section of a General Service Demand account, displaying the billing impact of the EVC rate on a service with a 100kW monthly peak.

Bill line item	Quantity	Base Rate	Base Net Amount*	EVC Rate	EVC Net Amount**	Difference
Service charge Fixed Charge	1	$105.55	$105.55	$105.55	$105.55	No difference
Distribution volumetric rate Unadjusted Peak kW or 90% kVA if Power Factor < 90%	100.00 kW	$21.3987	$2,139.87	$21.3987	$2,139.87	No difference
Retail Transmission Service Rate - Network Adjusted Peak kW (must occur 7am-7pm on IESO business day)	106.10 kW	$3.0836	$327.17	$0.5242 ($3.0836 x 0.17)	$55.62	- $271.55
Retail Transmission Service Rate - Transformation Connection Adjusted Peak kW	106.10 kW	$2.3487	$249.20	$0.3993 ($2.3487 x 0.17)	$42.36	- $206.83
Total			$2,821.79		$2,343.40	- $478.38

Based on the 2025 'core' Hydro One approved Delivery charges. View Rate Order

*Base Net Amount is calculated by quantity x base rate

**EVC Net Amount is calculated by quantity x EVC rate

Eligibility

EV charging stations must meet the following criteria to receive the EVC Rate:

Have at least one Direct Current Fast Charger (DCFC) (often referred to as a Level 3 charger)
At least 90 per cent of total monthly peak demand must be for EV charging
Average monthly maximum demand must be between 50 kW and 4,999 kW (measured over the most recent annual billing period or forecast over 12 consecutive months)
12-month average load factor must be 20 per cent or less (measured over the most recent annual billing period or forecasted over 12 consecutive months)
Must not primarily serve commercial or public sector EV fleets
Any Distributed Energy Resource (DER) behind the account's meter must not exceed the station's annual peak demand

How is load factor calculated?

Load factor measures how consistently a charging station uses electricity relative to its peak demand. For the purposes of the EVC rate, eligibility is to be determined based on a charging station's 12-month average load factor.

Monthly load factor =

monthly energy consumption in kWh

peak demand in kW × total hours in the month

Example:

A charging station that uses 14,880 kWh in a 31-day month (744 hours) and has a peak demand of 100 kW:

Load factor = 14,880 ÷ (100 × 744) = 20%

Note: DCFC stations that participate in the EVC Rate may also include lower-level, non-DCFC chargers. Any lower-level, non-DCFC chargers that are included behind a participating EVC Rate meter will not be considered auxiliary loads for the purpose of determining EVC Rate eligibility. The total capacity of any lower-level, non-DCFC chargers at a station may not exceed the total DCFC charging capacity at the station.

How to apply

Step 1

Visit the online form

Customers must self-declare by submitting a signed opt-in form to Hydro One

Start EVC rate application Request a cost of power estimate

Step 2

Fill in the form

When opting in, customers must confirm:

Electricity bill information including customer name, account number, service address and delivery point
Customer contact information
Charging station information

Number and average capacity of DCFC (Level 3) units
Number and average capacity of Level 2 and Level 1 units (if applicable)
Installed DER capacity and fuel type (if applicable)

Customer certification confirming the account meets each of the eligibility criteria

Step 3

Hydro One review & rate application

Hydro One will review the information you provide to verify eligibility
Once accepted, the EVC Rate will apply to your account starting the next billing period (or shortly after)

Reminder: The EVC Rate is available starting January 1, 2026.

Monitoring and compliance

You remain enrolled unless you opt out or no longer qualify
You must notify Hydro One within 30 days if your station no longer meets the eligibility criteria
Hydro One will perform load factor monitoring to ensure the yearly average remains less than 20 per cent
Hydro One will perform annual reviews to verify demand classification and usage as required
You can monitor your monthly peak demand and load factor via your monthly bill or using our Interval Data Portal accessible via myAccount
The monthly load factor will appear on the bill once you’ve enrolled in the EVC rate
False declarations may result in retroactive billing at standard RTSR rates, plus interest

Next steps

Apply online for the EVC Rate

Complete and submit your application using our online form.

Complete online form

Receive an EV station cost of power estimate

We can calculate a high-level estimate of your monthly cost.

Get an estimate