OEB Upholds Decision Eliminating Hydro One's Seasonal Rates

The Ontario Energy Board has dismissed a motion to review and vary its 2015 decision that Hydro One Networks Inc. eliminate its seasonal customer class and move existing seasonal customers to one of three Hydro One residential rate classes on the basis of density. The OEB's September 17, 2020 decision on the motion is available here.

As noted by the OEB, customers in Hydro One's seasonal class receive electricity service at premises that are not occupied long enough during the year to meet the current requirements for Hydro One's year-round residential distribution rate classes. The seasonal class is defined largely on the basis of the number of months of occupancy per year. By contrast, Hydro One's other residential classes are density-based, defined by their geographic location and the number of customers per kilometre of distribution line. Although seasonal customers occupy their dwellings for less than the full year, the distribution system assets that meet