Time of use pricing

Time of Use Pricing is one of many exciting benefits that smart meters offer to electricity users across Ontario. Through Time of Use Pricing, households and businesses are able to see their hourly electricity usage and how much it is costing them.

Our current energy rates are set from an average of high and low-demand levels of electricity use. Their old analog meters are not able to record when electricity was used, but rather how much was used over a longer period of time. Because of their digital design, smart meters can utilize Time of Use Pricing by recording your use of electricity on an hourly basis, allowing you, for example, to view the cost difference of running your dishwasher during peak energy consumption hours in comparison to running it during off-peak hours. Time of Use Pricing offers you a chance to better manage your energy usage and your electricity costs — helping you save money and ease the strain on the Ontario energy grid.

The Ontario Energy Board (OEB) is helping prepare Ontarians for smart metering by developing general daily and seasonal Time of Use prices based on energy usage patterns across Ontario during weekdays, weekends and our different seasons. We illustrate these periods and prices for you in the following chart — it will be a help for you as you plan your times of energy consumption in your home and business. The Time of Use prices and periods are subject to change depending on reviews from the OEB.

see the difference in your energy bills

Shift your energy use to off-peak hours and reduce the strain on Ontario's electricity grid and your wallet.