Government manufactured high electricity demand should end the ICI

Each day from July 7th to 10th saw an IESO "Ontario Demand" peak higher than any day since July 2013, and July 6th saw the 7th highest peak since 2013's summer. The government had made some announcements that encouraged this month's higher peaks:

• On Saturday, May 30th, the government announced the suspension of time-of-use (TOU) electricity pricing, replacing it with a flat rate until the end of October, and,
• On the afternoon of Friday June 26th the government announced, "companies that participate in the Industrial Conservation Initiative (ICI) will not be required to reduce their electricity usage during peak hours"

The second of these announcements was the most impactful in spurring higher peak consumption, but a review of multiply pricing impacts, and our ability to measure them, will provide a perspective for controlling systemic costs.