On June 1st, our government announced a suite of initiatives to support Ontario’s electricity consumers, including a $9 million investment to support low-income Ontarians through the COVID-19 Energy Assistance Program (CEAP). CEAP will provide a one-time payment to Ontarians who are struggling to pay down overdue electricity bills incurred during the COVID-19 outbreak.
These initiatives include:
More information about applications for the CEAP for Small Business will be coming later this summer.
In addition, the government recently announced that it will continue the suspension of time-of-use (TOU) electricity rates and, starting on June 1, 2020, customers will be billed based on a new fixed COVID-19 Recovery Rate of 12.8 cents per kilowatt hour. The COVID-19 Recovery Rate will be in place until October 31, 2020.
“Starting November 1, 2020, our government has announced Ontario electricity consumers will have the option to choose between time-of-use and tiered electricity pricing plan. We are proud to soon offer Ontarians the ability to choose an electricity plan that best suits for their lifestyle,” said Jim McDonell, MPP for Stormont–Dundas–South Glengarry.
The government will continue to subsidize electricity bills by 31.8 per cent through the Ontario Electricity Rebate.
The government is providing approximately $5.6 billion in 2020-21 as part of its existing electricity cost relief programs, to help ensure more affordable electricity bills for eligible residential, farm and small business consumers.