If you are a small business customer, you can choose between three electricity price plan options: Time-of-Use (“TOU”), Ultra-Low Overnight (“ULO”) or Tiered. You can switch between these options at anytime, but you must notify Elexicon Energy by completing an election form. If you want to stay on your current price plan, no action is required.
With TOU and ULO, the price depends on when you use electricity. This means you can help manage your electricity costs by shifting your usage to lower price periods when possible.
With Tiered, the price depends on how much electricity you use overall in a month.
There are three TOU price periods:
Off-peak, when demand for electricity is generally lower.
Mid-peak, when demand for electricity is moderate.
On-peak, when demand for electricity is generally higher.
Note: TOU price periods are different in the summer (May 1 to October 31) than they are in the winter (November 1 to April 30).
2All year.
If you want to continue paying TOU prices, you don’t need to do anything.
There are four ULO price periods:
ULO Ultra-Low Overnight, when demand for electricity is lowest on average.
ULO Weekend Off-peak, when demand for electricity is generally lower.
ULO Mid-peak, when demand for electricity is moderate.
ULO On-peak, when demand for electricity is highest on average.
Note: The ULO price periods are the same in the summer as they are in the winter.
With Tiered prices, you can use a certain amount of electricity each month at a lower price. Once that limit (called a threshold) is exceeded, a higher price applies.The tiered threshold for small business customers is 750 kWh. Unlike for Residential customers the threshold for Small Business customers does not change with seasons.
Tiered prices give you the flexibility to use electricity at any time of day at the same price, although that price will change if you exceed the threshold during the month.
Power is personal. Some customers may prefer TOU or ULO prices. Others may favour Tiered prices because they want the flexibility that the option provides.
Are you thinking about changing your price plan? Here are a few things to consider. Make sure you have some of your recent electricity bills handy as you go through the information below.
What electricity price plan are you on? If you’re unsure, take a look at the Electricity line of your bill. Most small business customers in Ontario pay TOU prices.
How much electricity do you use in a month? If you’re unsure, take a look at the Electricity line on your bill. You might also want to look at the historical usage graph on your bill, which shows your average daily usage over the past 12-month period.
When you use electricity can be another factor in your choice. Depending on your business your consumption pattern may vary. Some consumption may be seasonal such as electric heat. Compare several bills over the year to look at the impacts of seasonality. Look at the Electricity line of your bill to see how much power you use in each of the three TOU price periods. Consider all the contributing factors before making your choice.
There is no guarantee you will save money switching from one price plan to another. The total bill impact of switching will vary depending on how much electricity is consumed in a month and when it is consumed during the day. Compare TOU, ULO and Tiered prices using this bill calculator, provided by the Ontario Energy Board.
A switch between price plans can only take effect at the start of a billing period. A billing period is generally around 30 days, but can vary. The start and end dates are identified on your electricity bill. The start of your billing period can be any given day of a month. Other information to know about:
If you want to continue paying TOU prices, you don’t need to do anything. To switch to ULO or Tiered pricing, select one of the options below. The following also applies if you later want to switch back to TOU pricing.
