mknox
Well-Known Member
For 2016 Ontario is finally removing the debt retirement change, which is a good thing. But that will make net metering even less attractive.
Yes, and with much fanfare. What is also happening, with significantly less fanfare, is that the "Green Credit" (10% off your total, after-tax billed amount) is also going away. A net loss for most.
I wonder if we will ever get into the fights that you are seeing in some parts of the US where electrical utilities are trying to impose minimum monthly charges to be on the grid.
More bad news. Yes, Ontario will be implementing a "flat" distribution charge and it is to be phased in over a 4-year period. Right now, distribution charges are collected on the basis of a relatively small fixed charge (usually around $15) and a volumetric based rate. I see this being a thorny issue. Large users, like EV owners, will benefit while seniors, low income folks and such who use less electricity will suffer since the flat rate will be an "average" of what the utility needs to charge to recover its operating costs. Regulatory and commodity prices will remain variable. I can see this being an issue for net-metered solar customers too.
In a way, this is not unreasonable. A utility's costs don't change when consumers use less. Those poles, wires and capacity has to be there, on demand, regardless. Those costs don't go away. Rates were based on an old model of one-way electricity flows and a volumetric rate worked and made sense. But with 2-way power flows and other options consumers now have, it doesn't make sense. It does make sense to price the actual commodity volumetrically, but the connection costs are static regardless of how much power you take from the grid.
To make matters even worse, the Ontario Government is introducing the Ontario Electricity Support Program, or OESP. I call this the "Robin Hood" rate. Designated low income customers will be given an on-bill credit and it will be paid for via a rate rider on everyone else's bill. And you hoped that government meddling would end!!