O. Reg. 365/11: REMOTE UNLICENSED DISTRIBUTORS -- MINISTER'S RULES UNDER SECTION 2 OF ONTARIO REGULATION 495/10

Ontario Clean Energy Benefit Act, 2010
Loi de 2010 sur la prestation ontarienne pour l’énergie propre

ONTARIO REGULATION 365/11

REMOTE UNLICENSED DISTRIBUTORS — MINISTER’S RULES UNDER SECTION 2 OF ONTARIO REGULATION 495/10

Historical version for the period June 30, 2020 to June 30, 2020.

Note: This Regulation is revoked on July 1, 2020. (See: O. Reg. 338/20, s. 1)

Last amendment: 338/20.

Legislative History: CTR 4 AU 11 - 1, 338/20.

This Regulation is made in English only.

Purpose

1. This Regulation sets out the Minister’s Rules for determining,

(a)  who is a remote unlicensed distributor;

(b)  which customers of a remote unlicensed distributor are eligible to receive an Ontario clean energy benefit;

(c)  how the base invoice amount, on which the Ontario clean energy benefit is calculated, is determined for each customer who is entitled to an Ontario clean energy benefit;

(d)  how an Ontario clean energy benefit is provided by a remote unlicensed distributor to customers who are eligible to receive it; and

(e)  how remote unlicensed distributors are reimbursed for the Ontario clean energy benefits they provide.  O. Reg. 365/11, s. 1.

Definitions

2. In these Rules,

“distributor” means a remote unlicensed distributor;

“Minister” means the Minister of Energy;

“Ministry” means the Ministry of Energy;

“program period” means the period commencing January 1, 2011 and ending December 31, 2015.  O. Reg. 365/11, s. 2.

Who is a remote unlicensed distributor

3. A remote unlicensed distributor is a person, corporation or organization that,

(a)  distributes electricity in a remote community listed in Schedule 1;

(b)  issues invoices for electricity distributed to electricity customers who are eligible to receive an Ontario clean energy benefit; and

(c)  is willing to provide Ontario clean energy benefits to those customers as an agent of the Minister.  O. Reg. 365/11, s. 3.

Enrolment

4. (1) In order to take part in the Ontario clean energy benefits program, a remote unlicensed distributor must first submit a completed form entitled “Enrolment Application”, available from the Ministry, to the contact person at the Ministry listed on the form.  O. Reg. 365/11, s. 4 (1).

(2) The distributor must submit with the Enrolment Application,

(a)  information on the distributor’s electricity pricing structure;

(b)  information on the distributor’s consumer rate classes, if any, including the number of customers within each consumer rate class; and

(c)  a sample of an invoice it intends to issue to its electricity customers that shows the amount of Ontario clean energy benefits the customer is entitled to with respect to the time period specified on the application.  O. Reg. 365/11, s. 4 (2).

(3) The Ministry may request, at any time and from time to time, and the distributor shall provide any additional information or documents the Ministry requires in order to confirm that the distributor is a remote unlicensed distributor during the program period and to determine if there are consumers who have eligible accounts with the distributor during the program period.  O. Reg. 365/11, s. 4 (3).

Who is eligible to receive Ontario clean energy benefits from a remote unlicensed distributor

5. A person is eligible to receive an Ontario clean energy benefit from a distributor if the person is, at any time during the program period, a consumer in a remote community listed in Schedule 1 who has an eligible account with the distributor based on at least one of the following conditions set out in the definition of “eligible account” in subsection 2 (1) of the Act:

1.  The consumer has a demand for electricity of 50 kilowatts or less.

2.  The consumer annually uses not more than 250, 000 kilowatt hours of electricity.

3.  The account relates to,

i.  a dwelling,

ii.  a property, within the meaning of the Condominium Act, 1998,

iii.  a residential complex, within the meaning of the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006,

iv.  a property that includes one or more housing units and that is owned or leased by a co-operative within the meaning of the Co-operative Corporations Act.  O. Reg. 365/11, s. 5.

Calculating the Ontario clean energy benefit: base invoice amount

6. (1) The purpose of this section is to determine the amount of a consumer’s base invoice amount for a billing period for which an invoice for electricity is issued.  A consumer’s Ontario clean energy benefit for a billing period is 10 per cent of the base invoice amount for the billing period or, if the billing period is partly outside the program period, for that portion of the billing period that is within the program period.  O. Reg. 365/11, s. 6 (1).

(2) The base invoice amount for a billing period includes the cost of the electricity billed to the consumer for the billing period, including the variable and fixed charges relating to the production and delivery of the electricity, and the harmonized sales tax (HST) payable by the consumer, but only for electricity consumed in the program period.  O. Reg. 365/11, s. 6 (2).

(3) The base invoice amount for a billing period for a consumer must exclude,

(a)  any unpaid amounts that have already been billed for a previous billing period;

(b)  all penalties, interest and any other charges not relating to the production and delivery of electricity to the consumer during the billing period;

(c)  any charges relating to electricity supplied to the consumer before or after the program period; and

(d)  the amount of harmonized sales tax (HST) on the amounts excluded under clause (a), (b) or (c) from the base invoice amount for the billing period.  O. Reg. 365/11, s. 6 (3).

(4) If an invoice issued to a consumer for a billing period includes any charges for electricity consumed before or after the program period, the remote unlicensed distributor may make a reasonable estimate of the portion of the electricity consumed during the program period and the electricity charges relating to that electricity in order to determine the base invoice amount for that billing period.  O. Reg. 365/11, s. 6 (4).

How the distributor provides the Ontario clean energy benefit to a consumer

7. (1) The amount of the Ontario clean energy benefit for a billing period must be shown as a line item on the invoice issued to the consumer for the billing period and must be labelled as the “Ontario Clean Energy Benefit”.  This line item may be located below all the amounts included in calculating the base invoice amount and must be deducted to determine the amount owing by the consumer for the billing period.  O. Reg. 365/11, s. 7 (1).

(2) If an invoice is the first invoice issued to a consumer on which a credit for the Ontario clean energy benefit is provided (and the consumer has not received the Ontario clean energy benefit through other means), the invoice must also include a “catch up” amount equal to the sum of the Ontario clean energy benefit amounts to which the consumer is entitled in respect of electricity provided by the distributor in the program period but before the start of the current billing period.  O. Reg. 365/11, s. 7 (2).

(3) If a consumer’s eligible account for electricity with a remote unlicensed distributor is closed before the consumer receives all or part of his or her Ontario clean energy benefits from the distributor, the following rules apply:

1.  The distributor may apply the amount of the benefits the consumer is entitled to receive but has not yet received to any outstanding balance owing by the consumer to the distributor.

2.  If the amount then remaining that the consumer is entitled to receive but has not yet received is at least $10, the distributor must mail or deliver by hand that unpaid amount to the consumer’s most recent address known to the distributor.

3.  If a cheque mailed or delivered by hand in accordance with paragraph 2 has not been cashed despite the best efforts of the distributor to deliver it, and the cheque has ceased to be negotiable through the passage of time, the distributor is no longer liable to pay the benefits to the consumer and must ensure that the amount is repaid or credited to the Minister of Finance.

4.  The distributor shall pay or credit to the Minister of Finance all amounts of less than $10 that are not paid by the distributor and all amounts referred to in paragraph 3,

i.  by reporting the total amount in the next Energy Report Form, required under section 8, as a deduction from the amount of any reimbursement payable to the distributor, or

ii.  by remitting the total amount to the Ministry of Energy (but payable to the Minister of Finance).  O. Reg. 365/11, s. 7 (3).

Reimbursement of benefits provided to consumers

8. (1) To receive a reimbursement for Ontario clean energy benefits provided to its consumers, a remote unlicensed distributor must complete a form entitled “Energy Report”, available from the Ministry, for each billing period for which the distributor provided an Ontario clean energy benefit to a consumer, and must submit it to the Ministry in accordance with the directions on the form.  O. Reg. 365/11, s. 8 (1).

(2) The Ministry may at any time request, and the distributor shall provide, within the time specified in the request, any additional information or documents the Ministry considers necessary to determine the amount of the reimbursement to be made to the distributor.  No reimbursement for a billing period may be made until the Ministry has received the Energy Report for the billing period and any additional information or documents it has requested to verify the amount to be reimbursed.  O. Reg. 365/11, s. 8 (2).

(3) Based on the information provided in an Energy Report and any additional information and documents provided by the distributor, the Minister shall reimburse the distributor for the amount of Ontario clean energy benefits provided to consumers.  The reimbursement shall be made in the manner set out in the Enrolment Application submitted by the distributor or in another manner agreed to by the distributor and the Ministry.  O. Reg. 365/11, s. 8 (3).

(4) The amount of a reimbursement may be subsequently adjusted by way of a reduction or increase in the amount of a subsequent reimbursement if it is subsequently determined by an inspector under section 9 of the Act or by the Ministry that the amount of the reimbursement was inaccurate.  O. Reg. 365/11, s. 8 (4).

(5) The distributor will not be reimbursed for any billing period for which the Energy Report is received by the Ministry after June 30, 2016.  O. Reg. 365/11, s. 8 (5).

9. Omitted (provides for coming into force of provisions of this Regulation).  O. Reg. 365/11, s. 9.

Schedule 1

1.  Fort Hope No. 64.

2.  Keewaywin.

3.  North Spirit Lake.

4.  Winisk Indian Settlement.

5.  Pikangikum No. 14.

6.  Poplar Hill.

7.  Summer Beaver Settlement.

8.  Wunnumin No.1.

9.  Muskrat Dam Lake.

10.  Wawakapewin.

O. Reg. 365/11, Schedule 1.