New Peak-Use Hydro Rates Announced
Posted May 15, 2009 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Starting next month, some Toronto residents could benefit from a new pricing system being introduced by Toronto Hydro. But that’s only if they use electricity at certain times of the day.
On June 1st, 10,000 homes equipped with so-called smart meters will be charged higher rates during peak demand times – in the middle of the day in summer and in the morning and early evening in the winter. The price will drop overnight and on weekends and holidays.
“The electricity generation situation in Ontario is very, very serious,” noted Toronto Hydro spokesperson Blair Peberdy.
“There’s a plan to shut down the coal plants, which cause serious health problems. [But] the coal plants supply a lot of electricity to us. So, we have to shift consumption out of the peak periods to relieve pressure on the grid while we build up renewable energy and other types of generation in the province.”
The time-of-use fees are a way to get consumers to cut their use of power-draining appliances like washers, dryers and air conditioners when demand is highest.
Particularly on extremely hot and cold days, demand can exceed supply, causing brownouts and blackouts. But the expensive generating stations built to cover these periods sit idle for most of the year.
The first homes to go online with the new rates are in Toronto’s former suburbs – Etobicoke, Scarborough and North York. But Toronto Hydro expects to have the all of the city’s single-family dwellings onboard within the year.
Residents of Milton and Newmarket already use smart meters.
For a breakdown of the new time-of-use rates, click here.
