Pricing for Medium and Large Businesses

For medium and large businesses with a monthly peak demand of 50 kilowatts or more, the wholesale price for electricity appears as a separate line item on their bill. The final price on the bill is known as the Ontario Electricity Market Price, or the Ontario Price, for short. This price appears along with the Global Adjustment as the commodity charge on their monthly bills.

The Ontario Price replaces the Hourly Ontario Energy Price that used to be applied to the bills and represents the next step in evolving the IESO wholesale market to deliver significant efficiencies overall savings for the system.

While the average monthly Ontario Price appears on the IESO web site, your local distribution company (LDC) will calculate the final price that appears on your bill based on your business consumption. If you want to monitor hour to hour changes in the prices, day-ahead prices posted on the Power Data page provide a strong indication of pricing trends with the Peak tracker providing regular updates of demand forecasts. Businesses that can shift their energy use to times of the day when day ahead prices are lowest will see significant reductions in their electricity bills. 

The Ontario Price Explained | Electricity Pricing Explained

The Ontario Price is an improved wholesale price paid by most commercial and industrial customers who purchase their electricity through a local distribution company.

Global Adjustment | Electricity Pricing Explained

All electricity customers in Ontario pay Global Adjustment (GA), which covers the base costs for running the electricity system, including new infrastructure, regulated rates to suppliers under contract and energy efficiency programs. For medium and large businesses, GA appears as a separate line item on their bill.

Ways to Better Manage Electricity Costs

The market price for electricity changes throughout the day, week and season, which offers opportunities for businesses to take advantage of lower prices by making adjustments to when they use electricity.

  • Energy Efficiency: Save on Energy programs are delivered by the IESO and include tools for investing in energy-saving projects, technologies and capabilities.
  • Demand Response: With demand response, customers reduce their electricity use during periods of high demand when the cost of producing electricity is high. This reduces stress on the electricity system while reducing electricity bills.
  • Self-Generation: New technologies offer customers a wider range of options for meeting their electricity needs. Business customers can now choose to supply some (or all) of their electricity through onsite electricity generation assets and controls.