ontario regulation 153/18

made under the

Ontario Energy Board Act, 1998

Made: March 27, 2018
Filed: March 29, 2018
Published on e-Laws: April 3, 2018
Printed in The Ontario Gazette: April 14, 2018

Amending O. Reg. 275/04

(INFORMATION ON INVOICES TO CERTAIN CLASSES OF CONSUMERS OF ELECTRICITY)

1. Section 0.1 of Ontario Regulation 275/04 is revoked and the following substituted:

Definition

0.1 In this Regulation,

“invoice” means an invoice issued in respect of electricity to, except in section 8.3, a low-volume consumer.

2. Section 0.1.1 of the Regulation is revoked.

3. (1) Subsection 1 (1) of the Regulation is revoked.

(2) Subsection 1 (2) of the Regulation is revoked and the following substituted:

(2) An invoice issued to a low-volume consumer must include the following headings, in the following order:

1. Electricity.

2. Delivery.

3. Regulatory charges.

(3) Subsection 1 (3) of the Regulation is amended by striking out “sub-heading” and substituting “heading”.

4. Section 2 of the Regulation is amended by striking out “sub-heading” and substituting “heading”.

5. Subsection 3 (1) of the Regulation is amended by striking out “sub-heading” and substituting “heading”.

6. (1) Subsection 4 (1) of the Regulation is amended by striking out “sub-heading” and substituting “heading”.

(2) Subsection 4 (2) of the Regulation is revoked and the following substituted:

(2) The regulatory charges are to be calculated as the sum of the standard supply service administration charge and, where applicable, the wholesale market service charge, including rural or remote rate protection compensation required under subsection 79 (4) of the Act.

7. Sections 5 and 7.1 of the Regulation are revoked.

8. Subsection 8 (2) of the Regulation is amended by striking out “the distributor may include its own conservation message” and substituting “the person issuing the invoice may include the person’s own conservation message”.

9. (1) Subsection 8.3 (1) of the Regulation is amended by adding “referred to in subsection 79.2 (2) of the Act” after “Ontario Electricity Support Program”.

(2) Subsection 8.3 (4) of the Regulation is revoked.

10. Sections 9 and 10 of the Regulation are revoked and the following substituted:

Contact information

9. (1) The invoice shall include the following information:

1. The website address, if any, of the person issuing the invoice.

2. The telephone number of the person issuing the invoice.

3. The phrase “For a detailed explanation of electricity terms, please visit”, followed by the Board’s website address.

(2) The information set out under subsection (1) may be located anywhere on the invoice, and need not be located together.

Defined terms

10. (1) The invoice must include each term listed in Column 1 of the following Table followed by its meaning as set out in the corresponding row of Column 2 of the Table:

TABLE

Column 1 Term	Column 2 Meaning
Electricity	This is the cost of the electricity supplied to you during this billing period and is the part of the bill that is subject to competition.
Delivery	These are the costs of delivering electricity from generating stations across the Province to (name of person issuing the invoice) then to your home or business. This includes the costs to build and maintain the transmission and distribution lines, towers and poles and operate provincial and local electricity systems. A portion of these charges is fixed and does not change from month to month. The rest are variable and increase or decrease depending on the amount of electricity that you use. The delivery charge also includes costs relating to electricity lost through distributing electricity to your home or business.* (Name of person issuing the invoice) collects this money and pays this amount directly to our suppliers. *When electricity is delivered over a power line, it is normal for a small amount of power to be consumed or lost as heat. Equipment, such as wires and transformers, consumes power before it gets to your home or business.
Regulatory Charges	Regulatory charges are the costs of administering the wholesale electricity system and maintaining the reliability of the provincial grid.

 

(2) The terms set out in subsection (1), together with their meanings, may be located anywhere on the invoice, and need not be located together.

(3) Despite subsection (1), the Minister may, on the request of a person who issues invoices, authorize the person to use different wording approved by the Minister if the Minister is satisfied that,

(a) the use of different wording is warranted on the basis of,

(i) technical or operational reasons, or

(ii) the person’s assessment of the preferences of its low-volume consumers; and

(b) the wording approved by the Minister promotes the purposes of the wording required by subsection (1).

(4) An authorization under subsection (3) shall be given to the person in writing, and shall specify the approved wording.

(5) A person who receives written authorization under subsection (4) shall include on the invoice the wording approved by the Minister in the authorization.

11. The Regulation is amended by adding the following section:

Language

11. The words and phrases required under this Regulation to be included on or with invoices issued to low-volume consumers or invoices to which section 8.3 applies shall be included in English if the related invoices are issued in English, and in French if the related invoices are issued in French.

12. Section 12 of the Regulation is revoked and the following substituted:

Transition

12. (1)  A person who is subject to a requirement under this Regulation shall comply with that requirement as soon as is practicable after the day section 12 of Ontario Regulation 153/18 comes into force, but in no event later than September 30, 2018.

(2)  Until the person is able to comply with a requirement set out in a provision of this Regulation, the requirement set out in the corresponding provision, if any, of this Regulation as it read immediately before section 12 of Ontario Regulation 153/18 came into force, continues to apply.

Commencement

13. (1) Subject to subsection (2), this Regulation comes into force on the later of April 1, 2018 and the day it is filed.

(2) Section 2 comes into force on September 30, 2018.