Toronto, Ontario — A new Ontario off-peak hydro pricing plan offers an ultra-low overnight rate that’s 67 percent lower than the current off-peak rate, saving customers that use more electricity at night–including EV owners that charge their vehicles–up to $90 per year.
The new plan will be available on May 1 to customers of Toronto Hydro, London Hydro, Centre Wellington Hydro, Hearst Power, Renfrew Hydro, Wasaga Distribution and Sioux Lookout Hydro; all utilities in the province will be required to offer the option to customers within six months.
If they opt-in to the lower overnight rates, customers will see higher on-peak prices during the day. The Ontario government’s press release states that “customers that use more electricity at night, including shift workers and those that electrically heat their home or charge their electric vehicle, could save up to $90 per year.”
Regardless of the new plan’s implications for EV owners, others say the plan may not be as beneficial to EV owners as advertised.
“I would say this rate is not for electric vehicles, although it’s somewhat advertised as such,” said Hearst Power CEO Jessy Richard, an EV owner himself. “This rate classification is beneficial for those who have a battery storage system at home that can draw power from the grid at night and then use it in the day, and at night also charge their EVs.”
Those with shorter commutes would not benefit as greatly as those with longer commutes that would require the battery be recharged each night.
“If you drive a lot, you plug in, you’re going to charge for a longer period of time and that’ll save you more money,” said Devin Arthur, president of the Greater Sudbury EV Society, who said he does not drive enough to justify opting into the new plan. “And it’s always nice to see something that would help people afford [EVs].”
