With TOU prices, the price depends on when you use electricity. You can help manage your electricity costs by shifting your usage to lower price periods when possible.

There are three TOU periods:

• Off-peak: When demand for electricity is lowest. Ontario households use most of their electricity – nearly two thirds of it – during off-peak hours.
• Mid-peak: When demand for electricity is moderate. These periods are during the daytime, but not the busiest times of day.
• On-peak: When demand for electricity is generally higher. These are the busier times of day - generally when people are cooking, starting up their computers and running heaters or air conditioners.

People use electricity differently depending on the season, so the TOU price periods are different in the winter than they are in the summer.

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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. 

For small business customers, the Tier threshold is 750 kWh all year round. 

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.

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