New Ontario Energy Board customer service rules strengthen consumer protection

Customers must receive 10 calendar days’ notice before having their electricity service disconnected for non-payment. The notice period starts from the date on which the customer receives the disconnection notice. 

Disconnection notices sent out by mail are deemed to have been received by the customer on the third business day after the date the utility printed the notice.

Utilities must disconnect a customer within 11 calendar days following the 10-day minimum notice period. After that, utilities must restart the disconnection process.

Electricity and rate-regulated gas utilities must give customers an “account overdue notice” 7 calendar days before a disconnection notice is issued, and then give customers 14 calendar days’ notice before disconnecting them for non-payment.

Disconnection notices sent out by mail are deemed to have been received by the customer on the fifth calendar day after the date the utility printed the notice.

Utilities must disconnect a customer within 14 calendar days following the 14-day minimum notice period. After that, utilities must restart the disconnection process.

Utilities must not disconnect a customer on a day when they are closed to the public to make payment and/or reconnection arrangements, or on the day before that day.

Electricity utilities are banned from disconnecting residential customers for non-payment from November 15 – April 30.

Customers disconnected prior to the ban period must be reconnected by November 15. Utilities must also remove load control devices that were installed as an alternative to disconnection, and they cannot install new load control devices during the disconnection ban period, unless the customer wants the device.

The winter disconnection ban that applies to electricity utilities now also applies to gas utilities.

Both electricity and gas utilities will have until December 1 to reconnect customers who were previously disconnected for non-payment and remove load control devices, if applicable.

Security deposits must be returned to a residential electricity customer after 1 year of good payment history. For small businesses, security deposits must be returned after 5 years of good payment history.

Security deposits are not required from new residential customers if they can provide a letter showing 1 year of good payment history with another electricity or gas utility in Canada, or a satisfactory credit check at the customer’s expense. Security deposits must also be waived for eligible low-income customers upon request.

For residential customers of both electricity and gas utilities, security deposits must be returned after 1 year of good payment history. Security deposits must be returned to small businesses after 3 years of good payment history.

In addition to the exemption also in place for residential customers with a good payment history, security deposits must be waived for new residential customers enrolling in the utility’s equal payment plan and/or a pre-authorized payment plan as determined by the utility. For this purpose, a new customer is one who has not been served by the utility in the previous 2 years.

Electricity utilities must offer residential customers who do not have a contract with a retailer the option of joining an equal monthly payment plan or an equal billing plan that meets the requirements set by the OEB. Under such plans, a utility adds up a customer’s bills for the past 12 months and divides them by 12 to get the average, which is then automatically withdrawn from the customer’s bank account monthly or billed to the customer each month, depending on the plan. 

Utilities are not required to provide equal billing/equal payment plans to small business customers.

Electricity and gas utilities must offer residential customers who do not have a contract with a retailer the option of joining an equal monthly payment plan that meets the requirements set by the OEB. However, utilities are not allowed to make automatic withdrawals from a financial institution a requirement for signing up to an equal monthly payment plan. Utilities may cancel a customer’s equal monthly payment plan after 2 missed payments within an equal payment year. Utilities are not required to offer equal monthly payment plans to seasonal rate class customers.

Utilities must offer equal payment plans to small business customers except those who (1) have a contract with an energy retailer; (2) have less than one year of billing history; (3) are in arrears or their participation in the plan was cancelled for non-payment in the past year; or (4) have unpredictable consumption usage and for whom amounts cannot be estimated with a reasonable degree of accuracy.

Residential customers who are facing disconnection for non-payment can enter into an APA that meets the minimum requirements set by the OEB. Electricity utilities are prohibited from applying late payment charges on the amount that is covered by the APA for eligible low-income customers.

Utilities are not required to offer an APA to small business customers.

Residential customers who are facing disconnection for non-payment can enter into an APA that meets the minimum requirements set by the OEB. Utilities must not apply late payment charges on the amount covered by the APA for any residential customers. While USMPs must offer APAs to residential customers, they are not required to waive late payment charges on the amount covered by the APA.

Small business customers who are facing disconnection for non-payment must be offered an APA. The terms and conditions of these arrangements are not set by the OEB, but they must be reasonable.