Auditor General Suggests Some Changes To OEB Processes And Mandate

In her recently released 2022 Annual Report, Ontario's Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk focused in part on the Ontario Energy Board (OEB). The chapter titled Value-for-Money Audit: Ontario Energy Board: Electricity Oversight and Consumer Protection reviewed the OEB's role in protecting the interests of Ontario electricity consumers. In general, the Auditor General (AG) found that the OEB has a transparent adjudicative process that takes consumer interests into consideration. However, the AG noted that there are some constraints on the OEB's ability to protect consumer interests, and some areas where the OEB could more fully exercise its existing mandate.

The AG's value-for-money audit of the OEB contains 12 recommendations for improvement (summarized here). Below are some key findings.