Electricity Retailers
Customers have the choice of purchasing the electricity commodity they use in one of two ways :
- Through the Regulated Price Plan (RPP), where you are charged a regulated price per kilowatt-hour (kWh) by Hearst Power Distribution Company Ltd, for the electricity you use. The Ontario Energy Board sets theses prices as per Time-of-Use hours. this TOU pricing structure applies to all residential and business customers whose consumption is 250,000 kWh per year or less, and other designated consumers.
- Through an electricity retailer, where you pay the price per kWh as agreed upon by you and the retailer in the contract you sign. Visit the Ontario Energy Board’s web page for additional information in regards to electricity retailers and energy contracts.
Although Electricity retailers are private organizations and have no association with Hearst Power Distribution Company Ltd., you may rest assured that Hearst Power Distribution will always deliver your electricity whether you sign a contract with a retailer or not.
The OEB released a report entitled “Consumers Come First: A Report of the Ontario Energy Board on the Effectiveness of the Energy Consumer Protection Act, 2010″. The goal of the report is to ensure low-volume consumers (residential and small business) have the information they need to make the right decisions about retail electricity, and confidence that they’re protected by fair business practices.
If you move out of the province or enter into a contract with an electricity retailer, you will automatically be removed from the Regulated Price Plan. You will be issued a “final RPP settlement” or “exit fee” in the form of either a debit or credit on your final invoice. This one-time charge or credit is the difference between the price you paid for the electricity commodity on the RPP and the amount actually paid to generators. In the Regulated Price Plan, you are charged a fixed price, which may or may not reflect what is paid to generators.