Sunday, October 18, 2020

Changes: choosing Time-of-Use or Tiered billing

The Ontario Energy Board recently announced Regulated Price PlanS (RPP) for the winter (November-April). New for this year is consumer choice: Time-Of-Use (TOU) pricing will remain the default option, but individuals can opt to switch to the tiered pricing structure that many will be familiar with from before they were forced onto TOU pricing. Some have asked my opinion on switching - which I'd given without thinking it worthy of blog post. Now that I've heard others opine I offer a blog post to defend my very simple advice - and comment on the choices in the context of cleaner energy policy.

If you use less than the level of usage set for the lower-price tier (1,000 kWh) you should switch to tiered rates.

That's it: no gathering up all your bills, getting your hourly usage by registering on the web with your local distribution company (LDC), and crunching the numbers.

Just switch.

Now for me rambling on to justify that one line if only to justify my simply statement while everybody else I hear is advising researching ...