Implementation Details For Ontario's 8% Electricity Rebate Announced

On February 9, 2017, the Ontario Energy Board issued a letter titled Implementation of the Ontario Rebate for Electricity Consumers. As we described in an earlier post, starting on January 1, 2017, the Ontario Rebate for Electricity Consumers (OREC) provides an 8% rebate (equal to the provincial portion of HST) to residential and commercial customers directly on their electricity bills. The specific legislative requirements for the OREC implementation are set out in the General Regulation and the Invoicing Regulation under the Ontario Rebate for Electricity Consumers Act, 2016.

The OEB's letter sets out the details about how electricity distributors, as well as retailers who issue their own invoices and licensed unit sub-meterers (these parties are referred to collectively as "licensed financial assistance providers"), are to implement the OREC. In many ways, the implementation and reporting is similar to what was in place for the "Ontario Clean Energy Benefit"