Local Utilities Get Refund Credits

TORONTO -- Local electric utilities in Ontario have been credited with a total $334,959,047.18 so that they can provide their low-volume customers with refunds to offset high power prices.

The money has been credited to the utilities by the Independent Electricity Market Operator, or IMO.

That organization operates Ontario's electricity market and bills utilities for the electricity they draw for their customers.

Most utilities in the province will be required to send $75 cheques to residential and small-business customers to offset the high power prices.

Toronto Hydro will send $75 cheques only to about 200,000 customers who signed fixed price contracts.

Those who did not sign contracts will be handled differently.

Toronto Hydro charged those customers a steady rate of 4.3 cents a kilowatt hour through the summer.

Because the price of power averaged about 5.6 cents a kilowatt hour, those customers built up a debit.

It was tracked on their bills as a "purchased power variance account," or PPVA.

Those Toronto Hydro customers will see the debits reduced to zero, rather than receive refunds.

Source: The Toronto Star