Ontario electricity rates set to rise on Sunday

Ontario electricity rates are set to rise this weekend.

The Ontario Energy Board’s new prices for households and small businesses take effect on Sunday, Nov. 1.

That’s also the day the provincial government’s COVID-19 rate relief plan, which has been in place since late March, comes to an end.

Under the relief plan, about five million customers subject to “time-of-use” pricing had instead been paying a flat rate.

That rate was initially 10.1 cents per kilowatt hour, increasing to 12.8 cents in June – well below peak-hour pricing before the pandemic.

On Sunday, those customers will return to time-of-use billing unless they opt out.

The average customer will see a nearly two per cent increase to their hydro bill compared to before the pandemic.