Residential Charges and Rates

Your electricity bill is made up of delivery charges, distribution charges, regulatory charges and electricity charges. Below are our current electricity rates for residential customers. See Glossary of Terms for more details.

• Electricity Rates
  • Time-of-use Rates
  • Tiered Pricing
• Delivery Rates
• Regulatory Rates
• Ontario Electricity Rebate
• Debt Retirement Charge
• Global Adjustment
• Miscellaneous Charges
• Electricity Retailers
• Current Rate Card
• Historical Rate Cards

Electricity Rates

The electricity charge of your bill is calculated using Time-of-use rates or Tiered Pricing which are determined by the Ontario Energy Board. The most recent Time-of-Use rates and Tiered Pricing Rates are listed in the table below.

♦ A line loss adjustment factor of .0362 is applied to these charges and is added in the Delivery Section. 

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Time-of-use (TOU) Rates

Time-of-Use Rates - effective June 1, 2020

Effective June 1, 2020, customers will pay a flat rate of 12.8 cents per kWh, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The new pricing model,  known as the COVID-19 Recovery Rate, which impacts households, farms, and small business customers, will remain in effect until October 31, 2020. 

Prior to June 1, Time-of-Use customers were being charged the off-peak rate of 10.1 cents per kWh. This change was brought into effect on March 24, as part of the emergency relief measures to help those facing hardships from the pandemic. 

The rates and periods are as follows:

Impact on your electricity bill

Effective June 1, 2020, you will be charged 12.8 cents per kWh for any electricity consumption.

For customers with a billing period that includes the period from March 24 – May 7, you will be charged 10.1 cents per kWh for any electricity consumption that falls inside the relief period.

For any consumption on days prior to March 24, 2020 and following the 45-day relief period, you will be charged On-Peak Pricing at 20.8 cents per kWh, Mid-Peak Pricing at 14.4 cents per kWh, and Off-Peak Pricing at 10.1 cents per kWh.

The Ontario Energy Board reviews rates every 6 months. For additional information on time-of-use pricing and time periods, visit the Ontario Energy Board Web site or visit our Time-of-use Page.

♦ A line loss adjustment factor of .0362 is applied to these charges and is added in the Delivery Section. 

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Tiered Pricing

Winter Tiered Pricing Rates have been extended beginning May 1, 2020. 

On May 1, the winter tier threshold for residential customers usually shifts to its lower summer value of
600 kWh/month. To provide greater price stability for consumers staying at home due to COVID-19, the OEB is keeping the prices set in November 2019, and the winter tier threshold for households, in place after May 1, 2020.

Keeping the winter 1,000 kWh threshold provides households with an additional 400kWh/month at the lower price.

Households on tiered pricing continue to pay 11.9¢/kWh for the first 1,000 kWh of electricity they use per
month; 13.9¢ for each additional kWh. Small businesses on tiered pricing continue to pay 11.9¢/kWh for the
first 750 kWh of electricity they use per month; 13.9¢ for each additional kWh.

The table below shows the time, the electricity you use, and the price for non-residential customers:

Tiers are different for home and business customers. The table below shows the time, the electricity you use, and the price for residential customers: 

♦ A line loss adjustment factor of .0362 is applied to these charges and is added in the Delivery Section. 

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Delivery Rates

Delivery Charges are the costs of delivering electricity from generating stations across the Province to Waterloo North Hydro then to your home or business. This includes the costs to build and maintain the transmission and distribution lines, towers and poles and operate provincial and local electricity systems.

Portions of these charges do not change from month to month. The rest are variable and increase or decrease depending on the amount of electricity that you use.

♦ A line loss adjustment factor of .0362 is applied to these charges and is added in the Delivery Section. 

Please note new delivery rates effective January 1, 2020. For previous rates please see our Historical Rate Cards.

The chart below shows the delivery charges and the prices for residential customers:

* A line loss adjustment factor of 1.0362 is applied to these charges.

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Regulatory Rates

Regulatory Charges include the following two charges:

Wholesale Market Service Charge -- A charge to cover the cost of services provided by the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) to operate the wholesale electricity market and maintain the reliability of the high voltage power grid. It also covers the administration costs and certain costs incurred by local utilities to connect renewable generation.  The Wholesale Market Service Charge is set by the ONTARIO ENERGY BOARD to allow these costs to be passed on to consumers.

Standard Supply Service Administration Charge -- A charge to cover a portion of Waterloo North Hydro's administrative costs to provide electricity to customers that purchase their electricity from the utility (i.e. customers that are not served by a retailer). This charge is set by the ONTARIO ENERGY BOARD and is the same for all utilities across the province.

The chart below shows the regulatory charges and the prices:

* A line loss adjustment factor of 1.0362 is applied to these charges.

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Debt Retirement Charge

Debt Retirement has been removed from Residential bills effective January 1, 2016. The debt retirement charge was $0.007 per kWh. 

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Global Adjustment

The Global Adjustment is published monthly by Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) - additional information is available at www.ieso.ca. Applies only to Retailer contracts or using electricity rates other than Time-of-Use and Tiered (limited application).

♦ A line loss adjustment factor of .0362 is applied to these charges and is added in the Delivery Section. 

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Miscellaneous Charges

Below is a chart of miscellaneous charges and prices that you may see on your bill:

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Electricity Retailers

For more information please visit our Electricity Retailers Page.

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Current Rate Card

View Residential and Small Commercial Rate Card effective January 1, 2020

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Historical Rate Cards

View Residential and Small Commercial Rate Card effective January 1, 2019

View Residential and Small Commercial Rate Card effective Janaury 1, 2018

View Residential and Small Commercial Rate Card effective January 1, 2017

View Residential and Small Commercial Rate Card effective January 1, 2016

View Residential and Small Commercial Rate Card effective May 1, 2015

View  Residential and Small Commercial Rate Card effective May 1, 2014

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