Residential Electricity Rates

Updated: February 23, 2021

Note: Time-of-use and Tiered prices under the Regulated Price Plan resume starting February 23, 2021. Learn more

The Special Shutdown Rate of 8.5 cents per kilowatt hour on consumption between January 1, 2021 until February 22, 2021 has ended. 

The COVID-19 Recovery Rate ended October 31, 2020.

Read on for information about choosing your pricing plan.

Your electricity bill is made up of delivery charges, distribution charges, regulatory charges and electricity charges. All but the distribution charges are collected on behalf of other parties. Kitchener-Wilmot Hydro retains only the distribution charges.

Choosing your pricing plan

If you are a residential or small business customer that pays time-of-use (TOU) electricity prices, starting October 13, 2020, you can choose to switch to Tiered prices for billing periods that begin as early as November 1, 2020.

Electricity Charges

The electricity charge of your bill is calculated using rates which are determined by the Ontario Energy Board. 

Learn more about how electricity charges are calculated

COVID-19 Recovery Rate - Ended October 31, 2020

Time-of-Use Pricing effective November 1, 2020

Tiered Pricing effective November 1, 2020

Special Shutdown Rate effective January 1, 2021 through February 22, 2021

Time-of-Use Pricing effective January 1, 2021

Tiered Pricing effective January 1, 2021

COVID-19 Recovery Rate - Ends October 31, 2020

Between June 1, 2020 until October 31, 2020, customers paying time-of-use electricity rates pay the COVID-19 Recovery Rate, which is a fixed rate of 12.8 cents per kilowatt hour for electricity 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. 

For more information about the COVID-19 Recovery Rate, read the Government’s news release.

Learn more about the other options available to support customers during the COVID-19 Pandemic. 

Time-of-Use Pricing

For electricity consumed between November 1, 2020 and December 31, 2020:

Special Shutdown Rate

For electricity consumed starting February 23, 2021, time-of-use rates set effective January 1, 2021 apply.

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Tiered Pricing

Note: The special shutdown rate of 8.5 cents per kilowatt hour ended February 22, 2021. Tiered rates set January 1, 2021 apply starting February 23, 2021.  

For electricity consumed starting February 23, 2021, tiered rates set effective January 1, 2021 apply.

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Ontario Electricity Rebate

Effective November 1, 2019 the Government of Ontario introduced a new electricity rebate called the Ontario Electricity Rebate (OER). The OER is an on-bill rebate for households, multi-unit complexes, farms, long-term care homes, and many small businesses.

Between November 1, 2019 and October 31, 2020, the OER rebate was 31.8%.

Between November 1 and December 31, 2020, the OER rebate was 33.2%.

Effective January 1, 2021, the OER rebate has been reduced to 21.2%.

For more information about the OER, please visit https://www.ontario.ca/page/changes-your-electricity-bill

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Delivery Charges

These charges are set by Kitchener-Wilmot Hydro and are approved by the Ontario Energy Board to cover the cost of maintaining the highly efficient electricity distribution system in Kitchener and Wilmot Township, including 24/7 emergency services, infrastructure such as poles, wires, meters, transformers, and substations, and our local customer service centre. Kitchener-Wilmot Hydro has one of the lowest delivery charges in the province.

Below are our delivery and service charges for residential customers effective January 1, 2020 until December 31, 2020.

Below are our delivery and service charges for residential customers effective January 1, 2021.

Regulatory Charges

Loss Adjustment

Some electricity is lost along the lines on its way to your home. Some electricity charges and transmission charges may be subject to loss adjustment factors. These are known as "line losses."

Electricity Retailers

Customers who have a contract with a retailer will be billed the electricity rates agreed to in the terms and conditions of the contract they have signed, which may be different than the time-of-use rates set by the province because they do not include global adjustment charges. Kitchener-Wilmot Hydro is not a party to these contracts and only invoices the amount as directed by the retailer. Learn more about your rights when it comes to electricity contracts. 

Specific Service Charges

Outside of electricity consumption charges, customers may be subject to other service charges, as follows:

Customer Administration

Non-Payment of Account

Other

Definitions and Explanations of Charges

Electricity Charges

Electricity use is billed in kilowatt hours (kWh), which is a measure of energy used over time. For example, if you use a 1,000 watt microwave for one hour, you used 1,000 watt-hours – or one kWh.

Time-of-Use (TOU) Rates

With time-of-use rates, you pay for electricity based on when you use electricity in each of the three time-of-use periods: on-peak, mid-peak, and off-peak. Time-of-use rates are set twice each year by the Ontario Energy Board, on May 1 and November 1. Electricity charges are collected by Kitchener-Wilmot Hydro and paid directly to electricity suppliers. Kitchener-Wilmot Hydro does not keep any of these charges.

Time-of-use rates are based on provincial demand for electricity.

• On-peak pricing is highest because that is when provincial demand for electricity is highest.
• Off-peak pricing is lowest because that is when provincial demand for electricity is lowest.

Provincial "peak" electricity use changes in summer and winter.

• In summer, provincial electricity use is typically highest in the middle of the day, when air conditioners are working hardest.
• In winter, provincial electricity use is typically highest at the beginning of the day, when people and businesses are waking up and turning on lights, appliances, and machinery, and at the end of the day, when families return home and turn on lights and appliances for the evening.

For more information about time-of-use pricing, visit the Ontario Energy Board website. 

Tiered Pricing

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. For residential customers, the threshold normally changes with the season to reflect changing usage patterns – for example, there are fewer hours of daylight in the winter and some customers use electric heating.

In the winter period (November 1 – April 30), the Tier threshold for residential customers is 1,000 kWh so that households can use more power at the lower price. In the summer period (May 1 – October 31), the Tier threshold for residential customers is 600 kWh.

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.

For more information about Tiered Regulated Price Plan rates, please visit the Ontario Energy Board website.

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Delivery Charges

Delivery is the cost of bringing electricity from generation stations to your home or business. Kitchener-Wilmot Hydro’s distribution charges are included in this portion of your bill.

Electricity Usage Adjustment Factor

• An energy adjustment applied to the total amount of electricity used during the billing period to account for the line losses in the electricity system that are not measured by your meter. When electricity is delivered over a power line, it is normal for a small amount of power to be lost as heat. Line losses are an unavoidable part of delivering electricity. The adjustment factor is approved by the Ontario Energy Board and is reviewed regularly as part of the rate setting process.

Distribution Charge

• The distribution charge is charged per kilowatt hour of electricity consumed and collected by Kitchener-Wilmot Hydro to cover the cost of building and maintaining our distribution system, including overhead and underground distribution lines, poles, and transformer stations.

Distribution Service Charge

• This is a fixed monthly charge that covers the costs associated with meter reading, billing, customer service, account maintenance, and general utility operations.
  

Transmission Connection

• The transmission connection charge covers the cost of connecting Kitchener-Wilmot Hydro’s distribution system to Hydro One’s transmission lines, as well as the cost of transforming electricity from high transmission voltages to lower voltages for distribution. This charge is applied against your total energy in kWh.

Transmission Network Charge

• The transmission network charge covers the cost of delivering the electricity from the generating stations to the region through Hydro One’s transmission system. This charge is collected on behalf of Hydro One. This charge is applied against your total energy in kWh.

Smart Meter Entity

• The charge paid to cover the cost of services provided by the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) for the implementation and operation of the province’s Meter Data Management/Repository, which stores, validates and manages hourly electricity information transmitted by smart meters.

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Energy Charges

Energy charges are made up of the sum of on-peak, mid-peak, and off-peak measured energy in kWh multiplied by the applicable time-of-use rate. Electricity charges are collected by Kitchener-Wilmot Hydro and paid directly to electricity suppliers. Kitchener-Wilmot Hydro does not keep any of these charges.

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Regulatory Charges

Regulatory charges include the cost of services required to operate the electricity system and run the wholesale electricity market. The Ontario Energy Board sets these charges.

Wholesale Market Service

• The wholesale market service charge covers the cost of services provided by the IESO to operate the wholesale electricity market and maintain the reliability of the high voltage power grid and certain costs incurred by local utilities to connect renewable generation.

Standard Supply Admin Charge

• The standard supply administration charge covers a portion of a utility’s administrative costs to provide electricity bills to customers that receive an invoice directly from the utility (i.e. customers that are not billed by a retailer). This charge is set by the Ontario Energy Board and is the same for all utilities across the province.

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Global Adjustment

Global adjustment (GA) covers the cost of building new electricity infrastructure in the province, as well as delivering Ontario's conservation programs. It is calculated by the IESO and embedded in the time-of-use rates on your bill. If you have a contract with an energy retailer, you are billed global adjustment in addition to your energy costs. GA is calculated each month and is billed on your total kilowatt hour use. Learn more about how the global adjustment is calculated

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Hourly Ontario Energy Price

The Hourly Ontario Energy Price is the market hourly rate that is determined by the IESO. 

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