Usage Fees

Regulatory Accountability

The IESO is a not-for-profit corporate entity established in the Electricity Act, 1998, which is under the jurisdiction of the Ontario Minister of Energy. Its fees and licences to operate are set by the Ontario Energy Board. In fulfilling its role as the province’s reliability coordinator, the IESO must comply with, oversee and enforce reliability standards and processes that are set by several regulatory bodies within and outside of Ontario.

Usage Fees

Effective January 1, 2024, the IESO’s usage fees are $1.4203/MWh for domestic customers and $1.2545/MWh for export customers.

See the OEB’s Decision and Order (EB-2022-0318) dated August 29, 2023.

Smart Metering Entity Charge

Sept 2022: The IESO Smart Metering Charge (SMC) will be reduced by more than 25 per cent, following the OEB approval of a new $0.43 per meter per month until December 31, 2022 and $0.42 per meter per month from January 1, 2023 to December 31, 2027. This new fee is now almost half of the original fee when it was first introduced almost ten years ago.

In its Decision and Order, the Ontario Energy Board approved the SMC for the next five years (2023 – 2027). More details can be found in the OEB’s Decision and Order (EB-2022-0137).

The Smart Metering Charge covers the costs of operating the Meter Data Management/Repository (MDM/R), which collects, manages and stores smart metering data used to support Ontario’s 57 local distribution companies billing processes. This significantly reduced rate is a reflection of the maturity of the Smart Metering Entity (SME) operation and the ongoing efficiencies achieved by the SME over time in operating the provincial MDM/R.

As Ontario’s designated SME, the IESO is responsible for the implementation and operation of the province’s MDM/R.