Billing changes take effect for many Ontario electricity customers [Video]

Billing changes have taken effect for many electricity customers in Ontario.

The Ontario Energy Board (OEB) told INsauga.com that rates for delivery charges have been adjusted for a number of distributors in the province, effective Jan. 1.

Mary Beninger, a media relations specialist with the OEB, said that the board recently considered six cost-of-service applications and approved 22 annual update applications.

Cost-of-service applications are typically filed by electricity distributors every five years with the OEB to reset their rates “based on an in-depth review of its costs to serve customers and to invest in and maintain its distribution system.”

“These rates are designed to recover the cost of serving the customers while also providing the distributor with the opportunity to earn a fair return,” Beninger said.

Between cost-of-service applications, a distributor’s rates can also be adjusted through annual update applications.

Those applications use “a method … that allows utilities to …