Time-of-Use (TOU) Customer Choice

If you’re a residential or small business customer that pays Time-of-Use (TOU) electricity prices, you can now choose to switch to Tiered prices beginning November 1, 2020. Ottawa River Power will begin accepting requests from customers on October 13, 2020.

If you are already familiar with Time-of-Use Customer choice and wish to proceed with making changes to your account, please choose from the following options:

Option 1 – Opt in online

Ottawa River Power’s online Customer Choice Portal contains a handy Rate Plan Toolkit which provides you with online tools to review and manage your current electric rate plan pricing.

Features include:

View your current usage based on your current rate plan.
Compare pricing of your usage based on different rate plans.
Request a change to your rate plan.

Before you get started, please have your account number available. Please click the following link below to visit the portal:

Ottawa River Power’s – OEB Customer Choice Portal

How do I opt in online?

Customers can access our online portal to opt in via the following link:

Ottawa River Power’s – OEB Customer Choice Portal

Option 2 – Complete an election form

An election form can be filled out on a computer or by hand.

To download a copy of the election, click the below link:

Customer Choice RPP Election Form

When completed, use the following options to submit:

Add as an attachment and email to [email protected]
Drop a copy off at our offices in Almonte or Pembroke

Option 3 – Call the office

Call our offices at 613-732-3687 to discuss the change with one of our staff.

If you are not yet familiar with Time-of-Use Customer choice, below is a list of frequently asked questions that you may find helpful.

What is Time-of-Use (TOU) Customer Choice?

If you’re a residential or small business customer that pays TOU electricity prices, you can choose to switch to Tiered prices beginning November 1, 2020.

If you want to continue paying TOU prices, no action is required.

To switch from TOU to Tiered prices, you must notify Ottawa River Power by completing an election form. Ottawa River Power will begin accepting election forms on October 13, 2020. There is no deadline. You can ask to switch at any time.

Since June 1, 2020, customers on TOU have been paying a fixed electricity price of 12.8 ¢/kWh for all hours of the day (known as the COVID-19 Recovery Rate) which the government put in place as part of its response to the COVID pandemic. This fixed price ends on October 31, 2020. On November 1, 2020 the TOU prices approved by the Ontario Energy Board (OEB) will replace the fixed price.

What are TOU prices?

With TOU prices, the price depends on when you use electricity.

There are three TOU price periods:

Off-peak, when demand for electricity is lowest. This price applies in the evenings on weekdays and all day on weekends
Mid-peak, when demand for electricity is moderate. These periods are during the daytime, but not the busiest times of day.
On-peak, when demand for electricity is generally higher. These are the busier times of day – generally when people are cooking, starting up their computers and running furnaces or air conditioners.

Every household and small business is different, but on average, Ontario households use nearly two thirds of their electricity during off-peak hours.

With TOU pricing, you can help manage your electricity costs by shifting your usage to lower price periods when possible.

People use electricity differently depending on the season, so the TOU price periods are different in the summer (May 1 to October 31) than they are in the winter (November 1 to April 30).

What are Tiered prices?

With Tiered prices, you can use a certain amount of electricity each month at a lower price. Once that limit (called a threshold) is exceeded, a higher price applies. Although May to October 2020 has been an exception due to COVID-19, for residential customers, the threshold normally changes with the season to reflect changing usage patterns – for example, there are fewer hours of daylight in the winter and some customers use electric heating.

In the winter period (November 1 – April 30), the Tier threshold for residential customers is 1,000 kWh, so that households can use more power at the lower price. In the summer period (May 1 – October 31), the Tier threshold for residential customers is 600 kWh. The Tier threshold for small business customers is 750 kWh all year round.

Tiered prices give you the flexibility to use electricity at any time of day at the same price, although that price will change if you exceed the threshold during the month.

What do TOU and Tiered prices pay for?

The OEB sets TOU and Tiered prices based on a forecast of how much it will cost to supply TOU and Tiered customers with the electricity they are expected to use over the next 12 months. The OEB sets TOU and Tiered prices to recover the same forecast average cost of supply.

The OEB sets both TOU and Tiered prices under the Regulated Price Plan (RPP). The RPP is designed to provide stable pricing, encourage conservation and ensure that the price customers pay for electricity better reflects the price paid to generators that produce the electricity that customers use in their homes or small businesses.

Electricity utilities are not allowed to make a profit from the sale of electricity.

How often are TOU and Tiered prices set?

The OEB typically sets new TOU and Tiered prices for May and November, based on an estimate of how much it will cost to supply residential and small business customers on the Regulated Price Plan with the electricity that they are expected to use.

Will I save money by opting out of TOU prices?

There is no guarantee you will save money if you switch from TOU to Tiered prices. The total bill impact of switching will vary depending on how much electricity you consume in a month and when it is consumed during the day.

Considering a switch to Tiered prices? For more information, go to www.oeb.ca/choice and use our bill calculator to compare what your bill might look like if you switched from TOU to Tiered pricing.

What do I need to do to switch to Tiered prices?

If you’re a TOU customer and don’t want to switch to Tiered prices, you don’t need to do anything. You will stay on TOU prices.

If you do want to switch to Tiered prices, here are the rules that apply. These rules also apply if you later want to switch back to TOU prices.

Starting October 13, 2020, Ottawa River Power will make its election form available on its website, and to any customer that requests it. Ottawa River Power must accept election forms by email or mail at a minimum. An online portal has also been created to allow customers to opt in online.
You’ll need to fill out the election form to notify Ottawa River Power that you want to switch. The form is intended to be as simple as possible in terms of the information that you need to provide. You should have a recent electricity bill on hand when filling out the form, as you will need your utility account number.
Within 10 business days of receiving your election form, Ottawa River Power must tell you if your election form can’t be processed and must explain why (for instance, if you’re not authorized to make changes to the account, or the account can’t be verified).
If there are no issues with your election form, Ottawa River Power has the same 10 business days to let you know when you can expect to start being billed on Tiered prices.
A switch from TOU to Tiered prices can only take effect at the start of a billing period. A billing period is generally about 30 days long, and the start and end dates are identified on your electricity bill. Many customers are not billed based on a calendar month, and the start of your billing period can be any given day of a month.
- Ottawa River Power must start charging you Tiered prices as of your next billing period after you submit your election form if Ottawa River Power receives that form at least 10 business days before that billing period starts, and provided there are no issues with your form (see above).
- If Ottawa River Power receives your complete election form less than 10 business days before the start of your next billing period, Ottawa River Power might still be able to switch you for your next billing period. But if Ottawa River Power can’t do so, Ottawa River Power has to start charging you Tiered prices at the start of the next billing period after that.
- Because a switch in prices can only take effect at the beginning of a billing period, it will take some time between the day you provide your election form and the day you actually start getting charged Tiered prices.
- Even if you provide your election form to Ottawa River Power before the end of October, you’ll very likely pay TOU prices for at least some period of time – between November 1 and the time when your next complete billing period starts (or the billing period after that, depending on when you provide your election form).
- If you have chosen to switch to Tiered prices and later decide you want to go back to TOU prices, you can do that at any time. The process described above applies.
- Ottawa River Power is required to inform all new residential and small business customers that they have a choice between TOU or Tiered prices when they set up the account.
- The choice between TOU and Tiered prices is available to nearly all residential and small business customers that have smart meters and are billed on TOU. Some residential and small business customers are charged Tiered prices because their meters can’t be used to bill TOU prices. They can’t switch to TOU prices at this time.
- If you live in a condominium or apartment that has its own individual meter and your bill comes from a company other than Ottawa River Power, you are a customer of a unit sub-meter provider (USMP). Customers of USMPs also can’t switch to Tiered prices. That decision can only be made for the building as a whole by the “master consumer,” who is the person that retained a USMP for the property. In most cases, the master consumer is the property manager, landlord or condominium board.
- Customers that are buying their electricity from an energy retailer pay the electricity price set out in their contract. Once they have left their retail contract, they will have a choice between paying TOU or Tiered prices. For details about your energy contract, contact your energy retailer.

If I have opted into Tiered prices, can I switch back to TOU prices?

Yes. And the rules that apply to switching to Tiered prices also apply if you later want to switch back to TOU prices. A switch from TOU to Tiered prices can only take effect at the start of a billing period. A billing period is generally about 30 days long, and the start and end dates are identified on your electricity bill. Many customers are not billed based on a calendar month, and the start of your billing period can be any given day of a month.

Can all customers opt out of TOU prices?

Any customer on TOU may opt out and pay Tiered prices instead

Customers who are currently paying Tiered prices can’t switch to TOU prices at this time because their meters can’t be used to bill TOU prices.

If you live in a condo or apartment that has its own individual meter and your bill comes from a company other than your electricity utility, you are a customer of a unit sub-meter provider (USMP). Customers of USMPs also can’t switch to Tiered prices. That decision can only be made for the building as a whole by the master consumer, who is the person that retained a USMP for the property. In most cases, the master consumer is the property manager, landlord or condominium board.

I receive a monthly credit from the Ontario Electricity Support Program (OESP). Will I lose that credit if I switch to Tiered prices?

No. You will still receive the credit.

I receive the Ontario Electricity Rebate. Will I lose that rebate if I switch to Tiered prices?

No. You will still receive the credit.

I am about to sign up with a new electricity utility. Will the utility inform me that I have a choice between TOU or Tiered prices before I sign up?

Yes. Ottawa River Power is required to inform all new Regulated Price Plan customers that they have a choice between TOU or Tiered prices when they set up the account.