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The Ontario Energy Board’s (OEB) new electricity rates for households and small businesses took effect May 1, under the Regulated Price Plan (RPP).

Along with the switch to summer Time-of-Use (TOU) hours and Tier threshold, the OEB has announced both a decrease in rates and to the Ontario Electricity Rebate (OER) portion of your bill, from 21.2% to 18.9%.

On a typical residential bill for a customer using 700 kWh per month, these changes will translate to a small monthly savings. For TOU Pricing Plans, typical savings are approximately $0.58, while for Tiered Pricing Plans these savings are approximately $0.04.

Customers are still able to opt between TOU and Tiered Pricing Plans. Customers can learn more about their choices and how to change between plans here.

About Time-of-Use (TOU) rates

Under Time-of-Use (TOU) pricing, customers are charged according to the day of the week and time of day that they use electricity. This gives customers the option to shift higher electricity-use activities — such as laundry or running the dishwasher — to off-peak periods, which are charged at a lower rate.

There are three different TOU price periods: on-peak, mid-peak and off-peak.

TOU rates and price periods typically change twice a year (May 1 and November 1). Both the rates and price periods are set by the Ontario Energy Board (OEB).

May 1, 2021 Time of Use Rates:

On Peak – 17.0 ¢/kWh
Mid Peak – 11.3 ¢/kWh
Off – Peak – 8.2 ¢/kWh

Summer pricing periods

To learn more about TOU rates, visit our Time of Use page.

About Tiered rates

Tiered pricing separates electricity consumption into two price tiers. Customers are charged one rate for electricity usage up to a certain amount of consumption (or threshold) per month, and a higher rate for electricity used above that amount.

The price threshold (the amount of electricity consumption that is charged at the lower price) is set by the Ontario Energy Board (OEB) and will typically change twice a year for residential customers.

Note: Updated Tiered rates as of May 1, 2021.

OSHAWA – With the disconnection moratorium ending on July 31, 2020 some Oshawa electricity customers may be challenged with an overwhelming balance.

Oshawa Power realizes that for many of their customers the “new normal” has not yet arrived, many are still facing financial hardships. Oshawa Power has taken the initiative to start a Compassion Fund to assist Residential Customers that are having difficulty paying their bills. The purpose of this fund is to help families who are facing financial hardship due to COVID-19 or another life event. With the stipulations that are present on other financial assistance programs some find they do not qualify; the Compassion Fund can help those families.

“This program has been developed to help those who have not accessed any of the existing programs and are “falling through the cracks”. Our team really cares; they were worried about those customers and the difficulties they are facing. They came to me with this idea of a Compassion Fund, which I thought was terrific. We are here to help,” says Ivano Labricciosa, President and CEO of Oshawa Power.

“Disconnecting service is a last resort. It is an ineffective measure that does not help our customers and it creates a cycle that they find hard to get out of. The Compassion Fund not only staves off disconnection but helps customers bring their accounts back into good standing” states Susanna Beckstead, Vice President of Finance, Corporate and Business Services.

“If we continue down the line of collection notices and disconnections then we are fueling the cycle. If we help people out of a situation that has caused a hardship, then we have really helped someone get back on their feet.” Beckstead continues.

Oshawa Power’s Compassion Fund is not funded by ratepayers and is available to all Oshawa Power Residential Customers. The funds are limited, and applications will be processed in the order they are received. The assistance is only if your account balance is past due. Funding will not exceed $150 per household and will not exceed the arrears amount. To learn more about the Compassion Fund or to apply please visit opuc.on.ca/compassion-fund.

“The team here at Oshawa Power are always looking for ways to give back to our community where we live and work; this fund is another example of Oshawa Power giving back to the community they have been a part of for over 130 years”, Labricciosa adds.

Oshawa Power Launches Compassion Fund

Media Contact:
Sheila Risorto
Marketing and Communications
905-439-1930
srisorto@opuc.on.ca

Reminder that Oshawa Power’s Public Town Hall is tonight!

Oshawa Power is currently creating their five-year infrastructure investment plan and are seeking direct customer input. The plan will determine where investments needs to be made to provide a reliable, safe, progressive and modern distribution system.

The Ontario Energy Board (OEB) requires electricity distributors to include customer feedback outlining their expectations and opinions on investments and development plans in infrastructure and services.

Oshawa Power is hosting a Public Town Hall at:

PLACE: McLaughlin Library Auditorium

DATE: Tuesday, November 5, 2019

TIME: 5:30pm to 7:30pm.

All Oshawa residents are invited to attend this information session on Oshawa Power’s 5 year budget plan and provide their feedback.

For more information please email communications@opuc.on.ca or call 905-723-4626 ext 5243.

Unable to attend the Public Town Hall but still want to have your say? Complete our online survey at www.oshawapower.ca/cost-of-service .

OSHAWA – October 24, 2018 – There is a work stoppage at Canada Post in the form of rotating strikes which can cause delays in the delivery of your hydro bill to you and in turn, your payment to us.

Oshawa Power is reminding customers that hydro accounts are still required to be kept current. If you currently receive your hydro bill by mail we are encouraging customers to enroll into our E-Billing program so the delivery of you bill is uninterrupted. You can enroll into our E-Billing program by visiting www.oshawapower.ca/ebilling. E-Billing gives you access to your account’s balance, billing history, due dates and consumption history.

Additionally, if you currently send you payment through the mail we are encouraging customers to instead pay their bills through:

• online banking,
• telephone banking,
• their financial institution in person,
• our convenient credit card service by visiting https://ipn.paymentus.com/rotp/osp or by calling 1-800-420-1663*.

Don’t have access to a computer? Please call us at 905-723-4623 Monday to Friday 8:30am-4:30pm and we will assist you with alternative options. We are here to assist you, by working together we can get through this postal disruption with as little inconvenience as possible.

We will be monitoring this situation closely and will provide any updates as they come available on our website at www.oshawapower.ca.

*A 1.75% convenience fee applies to credit card payments

As we enter into this well-deserved long weekend make sure you’re ready to handle the heat.

Ontario is beginning a week long heat wave that will surely impact electricity demand on the grid.  During times of extreme heat overall usage climbs due to air conditioners, dehumidifiers and pools.  Conversely, our refrigerators and freezers work harder to maintain cooler temperatures.

What you may end of with next month is a higher bill due to the warmer weather.  Oshawa Power is sharing these tips to help keep your bills lower:

• Instead of using a clothes dryer – hang your clothes outside
• Close your blinds or curtains to block the sun’s heat from coming inside
• Instead of using your air conditioner, open your windows and turn on your bathroom and kitchen exhaust fans to circulate the air
• Use a programmable thermostat for times that you are away
• Turn on the ceiling fans and portable fans
• Use a timer on your pool pump and run in the off peak times
• Don’t stand in front of an open fridge looking for a snack, try to keep the cool air in

Venturing outside this weekend to celebrate Canada Day?  Remember these heat safety tips:

• Stay hydrated! Keep cool drinks with you while outside or in the car if you are travelling somewhere
• Cool down in the shade or cooling centres. If you’re at a pool, take a dip to cool off.
• Be aware of the weather forecast, heat alerts and air quality reports
• Check on vulnerable family members or neighbours to make sure they are ok
• NEVER – leave your children or pets in a parked car

If you like to learn more about conservation or more safety tips please visit www.oshawapower.ca/conservation

www.oshawapower.ca/safety-and-outages/

 

For Immediate Release

Oshawa, ON – Oshawa Power is launching a new and innovative pilot that will help local residents to take charge of their electricity costs while also helping Ontario’s power system run more efficiently. The Peak Performance program is a unique opportunity; open only for a limited time to residents of Oshawa.

Peak Performance is designed to help customers shift their energy use so they can reduce their electricity costs. The program features new pricing structures that offer cost-savings during off-peak times. To help customers shift to the cheaper off-peak times, Peak Performance also includes energy management tools such as an advanced web portal, feedback and alerts, specially-trained customer service representatives and an interactive state-of-the-art smartphone app called Peak. This suite of tools is customized for each participant. The goal is to support customers through offering best-in-class information, delivered how and when they need it.

Peak Performance is one in a series of pilots in the province approved by the Ontario Energy Board (OEB). Oshawa Power has partnered with Publicis.Sapient to design and manage the locally delivered program.

“When we launched Ontario’s Fair Hydro Plan, our government delivered significant and immediate relief on electricity bills for all residential electricity customers and as many as half a million small businesses and farms across the province. With affordability as a top priority, I’m pleased the Ontario Energy Board and Oshawa Power are taking the next step in offering more flexibility and choice to families, while helping to reduce electricity bills even further,” stated Glenn Thibeault, Ontario’s Minister of Energy.

“By engaging in this pilot we can facilitate and inform the conversation around electricity pricing and contribute to the OEB’s work to develop pricing that can give customers in Oshawa greater control over their electricity costs while also helping to improve system efficiency,” commented Ivano Labricciosa, President and CEO at Oshawa Power. “This pilot will empower our customers with information to guide how they use their electricity to best suit their needs. We are proud to bring this kind of innovation to Oshawa.”

“Having informed conversations about approaches for reducing consumption is increasingly important. Doing so requires data-driven insights, the right tone of voice and advanced channels for supporting customers.  We are excited about partnering with Oshawa Power on this effort and helping to advance the OEB’s work to revamp pricing options for residential customers,” added Ravi Parakkat, director and North America Utilities lead at Publicis.Sapient.

Peak Performance Pricing will run for a 12-month pilot period and is only open to 1,500 Oshawa residents. Oshawa Power is recruiting participants NOW.  Please contact cdm@opuc.on.ca or (905) 723-4626 ext 5346 for details or to register.

 

About Oshawa Power:

Oshawa Power provides safe, reliable and efficient electricity distribution services to over 58,000 customers in the City of Oshawa.  Oshawa Power is part of the Oshawa Power and Utilities Corporation family of companies.

Oshawa Power and Utilities Corporation is the holding company for a diversified group of four subsidiaries involved in energy distribution, telecom ventures, clean power generation and solar energy generation.  Oshawa Power and Utilities Corporation is wholly owned by the Corporation of The City of Oshawa.  For more information, visit www.oshawapower.ca .

About the Ontario Energy Board:

The Ontario Energy Board (OEB) has selected a number of Ontario utilities, including Oshawa Power, to explore alternative pricing options for residential customers to give them greater choice and more tools to better understand and manage their electricity use.

The OEB is the independent regulator of Ontario’s electricity and natural gas sectors. It protects consumers and makes decisions that serve the public interest. Its goal is to promote a sustainable and efficient energy sector that provides consumers with reliable energy services at a reasonable cost.

About Publicis.Sapient:

Publicis.Sapient, the digital business transformation hub of Publicis Groupe, helps clients drive growth and efficiency and evolve the ways they work, in a world where consumer behavior and technology are catalyzing social and commercial change at an unprecedented pace. With 19,000 people and over 100 offices around the globe, our expertise spanning technology, data sciences, consulting and creative combined with our culture of innovation enables us to deliver on complex transformation initiatives that accelerate our clients’ businesses through creating the products and services their customers expect. For more information, visit www.publicis.sapient.com.

Peak Performance Pricing Media Release PDF

Customer Notice

May 7, 2018

Are you still overdue on your Hydro Bill?

OSHAWA – Oshawa Power began delivering disconnect warnings, as required under its regulatory obligations, to customers who have not met their payment requirements.  As per scheduling of the collection process, electricity disconnects will begin on May 16, 2018.

As a result of the Ontario Energy Board’s winter disconnection moratorium, the volume of accounts eligible to be disconnected is much higher than in prior years.  As a result, we expect that the call volume into our Customer Service Centre to be much higher than normal.  Although we have cost-effectively ramped up staff in anticipation of the additional call volumes, customers may have difficulty getting through once the disconnections begin.

In order to address the volume of accounts in arrears effectively and efficiently we are encouraging customers to please contact us before receiving a final notice so we can make arrangements with them and avoid disconnection.

Please note, that as a customer service gesture we are waiving the prescribed delivery fee of $30 for the disconnect warnings for this month only while we process the backlog of customers in arrears.  However if your service is disconnected you will be required to pay a reconnection fee prior to your service being reconnected.  As per Ontario Energy Board approved rates, a reconnection at the meter completed during regular business hours is $65.00 plus HST.  A reconnection at the meter completed after regular business hours is $185.00 plus HST.

Please be aware that with the expected high volume of disconnected customers we cannot guarantee same day reconnect.  We will do everything we can to have customers restored the same day that payment and fire safety consent is received, however it may take longer.  In the event that someone over the age of 18 is not on site at the time of reconnection, fire safety consent (verbal or written) is required from the account holder.

For customer convenience we have added a new button on our website homepage www.oshawapower.ca for customers to provide proof of payment and fire safety consent.  This will help the customer get their electricity restored without having to call into the Customer Service Centre.

If you need to speak with one of our representatives please call Customer Service at 905-723-4623 Monday to Friday 8:30am- 4:30pm to discuss your options.

OSHAWA – Oshawa Power’s electrical grid was hit early Friday evening due to the massive wind storm that passed through southern Ontario.  Overall there were 23,161 customers that experienced a power outage at some point during Friday evening.

Our first outage was reported at 5:40pm and Oshawa Power invoked their Emergency Preparedness Plan as outages were reported.  All crews were available to begin the assessment and restoration process.  Our communications were up and running and active throughout the outage.  Real-time updates were shared through our social media channels, website outage map and through a media release.

Once the wind subsided and it was safe, crews began restoring service.  Service restoration began at 8:00pm using a staggered approach throughout the city.  By 2:25am Saturday morning all customers were fully restored.  Oshawa Power continues to work on repairing damaged equipment caused by the storm.

Oshawa Power would like to thank our customers for their patience and support while we worked to restore power as quickly as possible.

Now that the storm has subsided we are advising customers to please take a moment and inspect their property for potential damage and hazards.   The Electrical Safety Authority (ESA) is advising Ontarians in areas most affected by the wind of the last two days to take a moment and check for damage to their home or property’s electrical system.  Even if power has been restored or never went out, you may have electrical pipes/masts pulled away from the building or sagging electrical wires.  These could be shock or fire hazards and should be repaired.

If you identify a hazard on your property contact a Licensed Electrical Contractor to check it and make the necessary repairs.  Click here to learn more.

If you identify a potential tree hazard that needs to be addressed please contact us using our message form and provide us the details and we will send a crew out to address this issue.

As a reminder whenever there is a power outage you can check our Outage Map or check our social media feeds Facebook and Twitter @oshawapower for updates.

Media Contact
Sheila Risorto
Marketing and Communications Analyst
srisorto@opuc.on.ca
905-723-4626 ext 5243
905-439-1930

Are you currently overdue on your Hydro Bill?

OSHAWA – Starting May 1, 2018 the Ontario Energy Board’s ban on collection disconnects during winter months ends.  Unfortunately some customers have used the winter disconnection ban as an opportunity to not pay their bills because they were not in danger of losing service.   As a result of the ban, we have seen customer account balances accumulate. Many customers may now have a difficult time paying their balance back to the utility.

The impact of the winter disconnection ban significantly increases the number of accounts in a position where they can be facing service disconnection and the cost of collection activity.  It also decreases the recoverability of balances.  Oshawa Power works extremely hard to mitigate losses so we can keep our rates low. The impact of receiving late payments or no payments lead to increased rates for the ratepayers and/or delayed infrastructure upgrades which is why we would prefer to work with you to achieve a solution that works for both of us.

We want to work with our customers to avoid disconnection, Oshawa Power offers many programs and repayment plans to assist families and are encouraging customers to reach out to us if they need help.

Here at Oshawa Power we are not in the business to disconnect service.  The disconnection process is costly and we like to avoid it as much as possible.   We work closely with numerous social agencies in the Durham Region and the city of Oshawa to offer assistance and ease the burden of paying utility bills for low income individuals and families. We want to help our customers keep their service, and help to keep their accounts current. If you are having trouble keeping up with your bill please call us before you get your final notice.  We would like to help as many people as possible avoid disconnection.  If we can help people before it comes to the point of disconnection it’s a win-win.

Please call Customer Service at 905-723-4623 Monday to Friday 8:30am- 4:30pm to discuss your options.

OSHAWA, ON April 16, 2018 – Oshawa Power is pleased to report that small areas affected by this weekend’s ice storm have been fully restored and Oshawa is 100% powered.

Oshawa Power was monitoring this storm very closely and our field crews and emergency team were on high alert and prepared to respond when needed.  At any given time we had no more than 300 customers without power.

Our crews were dispatched on Saturday to address multiple non-service affecting motor vehicle accidents to repair equipment and about 10 service affecting outages on Sunday.  The outages were primarily caused by tree contacts and accumulated ice buildup.  Our crews worked tirelessly throughout Sunday night clearing the lines to get the power restored as soon as possible to minimize inconvenience for our customers.

Now that the storm has subsided we are advising customers to please take a moment and inspect their property for potential damage and hazards.   The Electrical Safety Authority (ESA) is also advising Ontarians in areas most affected by the ice and wind of the last two days to take a moment and check for damage to their home or property’s electrical system.  Even if power has been restored or never went out, you may have electrical pipes/masts pulled away from the building, sagging electrical wires, or water and ice damage.  These could be shock or fire hazards and should be repaired.

If you identify a hazard on your property contact a Licensed Electrical Contractor to check it and make the necessary repairs.  Learn more here.

If you identify a potential tree hazard that needs to be addressed please contact us using our Message form and provide us the details and we will send a crew out to address this issue.

As a reminder whenever there is a power outage you can check our Outage Map or check our social media feeds Facebook and Twitter for updates.

We would like to thank our customers for their support and patience while our crews worked to restore the power safely.

Oshawa Power advises that all power is restored PDF

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Media Inquiries:
Sheila Risorto
Marketing and Communications Analyst
905-723-4626 ext 5243
905-439-1930
srisorto@opuc.on.ca