Hydro drops daytime rates during pandemic

WEST CARLETON – Hydro Ottawa and Hydro One are dropping their daytime electricity rates to help support those at home practicing physical distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Today, the Ontario government announced its decision to suspend winter Time-of-Use electricity pricing and periods,” the government released in a statement. “Effective immediately, Ontario electricity customers will pay only the off-peak rate (10.1 cents/kWh) for the electricity they consume.”

During this 45-day period, farms, small businesses and residential customers will not be billed at on-peak (20.8 cents/kWh) or mid-peak (14.4 cents/kWh) rates.

Hydro Ottawa has already taken the following measures to support customers, including:

• Extending the provincial winter disconnection ban scheduled to end on April 30, 2020, by an additional three months (July 31, 2020) for all residential and commercial customers;
• Reminding customers experiencing financial hardship that we offer several financial assistance programs, including emergency relief;
• Offering flexible payment plans in order to provide customers with more time to pay outstanding balances on their account if needed; and
• Suspending all collection actions until July 31, 2020.