Duane Hicks
FORT FRANCES—Effective Thursday, Oct. 6, the Fort Frances Power Corp.’s residential and small business customers will begin making the transition to the new time-of-use (TOU) rate structure.
The switch to TOU rates means FFPC customers will pay for electricity according to what time of day they use it (referred to as off-peak, mid-peak, and on-peak hours).
The FFPC did not make the transition to TOU rates—originally scheduled for July 11—because of “system integration issues” with its billing system, which resides in Thunder Bay, and the provincial billing system, FFPC CEO Joerg Ruppenstein noted Thursday morning.
The FFPC, along with a few other utilities in the region, had to work with their software vendor over the past couple of months to resolve the issues.
“We experienced some delays, due to system integration issues, and these issues have now been resolved,” said Ruppenstein.
“The testing of the system is complete to ensure that the customers are billed correctly.
“We’ve been able to verify that,” Ruppenstein stressed. “That’s why we were very cautious.
“We wanted to ensure that at the end of the day, our customers are billed correctly. So as a preventive measure, we postponed the roll-out until October, when now we can be certain that customers will be billed properly.”
Ruppenstein said the transition date means any electricity that is consumed after Oct. 6 will be billed out under the new TOU rates.
However, not all FFPC customers will transition exactly on Oct. 6 due to the billing cycle some customers are on.
“We bill customers throughout the month,” he noted. “So the first ones will transition on Oct. 6 and the last ones will transition near the end of October.”
TOU means hydro rates will vary throughout the day—being more expensive at peak times and less expensive during off-peak periods.
Theoretically, by knowing when these times are, people will be able to choose when and how they use electricity.
As part of the FFPC’s consumer education campaign, Ruppenstein said all customers will be receiving a brochure entitled “Introducing Time-of-Use Rates” with their next monthly bill.
The following month, FFPC customers will get a TOU rate sticker, which depicts hours and rates.
This is meant to be an easy way to reference when the various rates are in effect, Ruppenstein noted.
Off-peak power costs 5.9 cents per kilowatt hour, mid-peak costs 8.9 cents, and on-peak 10.7 cents.
In the summer season (May 1-Oct. 31), off-peak hours are from 7 p.m.-7 a.m., mid-peak is from 7-11 a.m. and 5-7 p.m., and on-peak runs from 11 a.m.-5 p.m.
For the winter season (Nov. 1-April 30), off-peak hours are from 7 p.m.-7 a.m., mid-peak from 11 a.m.-5 p.m., and on-peak from 7-11 a.m. and 5-7 p.m.
Weekends and holidays are considered “off-peak” during both the winter and summer periods.
This transition is being done here and elsewhere to comply with a provincial mandate. All of Northwestern Ontario is transitioning to TOU rates in October.
About half of the province so far has made the changeover.
For more information on TOU rates, visit the Ontario Energy Board’s website at www.ontarioenergyboard.ca or contact the FFPC office at 274-9291.
(Fort Frances Daily Bulletin)
