What's new newsletter

The OEB has released an update to its Environmental Guidelines. The Environmental Guidelines provide guidance to project proponents on how to prepare the Environmental Report that is required by the OEB as part of Hydrocarbon Project applications. The Environmental Guidelines defines the “environment” as encompassing a broad range of environmental and socio-economic elements. The types of Hydrocarbon Projects that require approval of the OEB include certain hydrocarbon pipeline and natural gas storage projects.

The Market Surveillance Panel has submitted to the OEB its Monitoring Report on Ontario's wholesale electricity market.

The OEB has issued Filing Guidelines for Incentives for Electricity Distributors to Use Third-Party DERs as Non-Wires Alternatives, which identifies the information distributors should include in their applications for incentive mechanisms. This new filing guidance is intended to encourage the use of third-party Distributed Energy Resources as non-wires alternatives, assist distributors in developing their incentive proposals and facilitate effective and timely regulatory review.

The OEB has issued a Notice of Proposal to amend the Transmission System Code and the Distribution System Code to ensure the most cost-effective investments are made to replace major transmission voltage assets when they reach end of life and need to be replaced, as part of the regional planning process.

The OEB has posted Price Comparison templates for Natural Gas Contracts for Enbridge and EPCOR valid from April 1 - June 30, 2023.

The OEB has approved changes to the prices Enbridge Gas Inc. and EPCOR Natural Gas Limited Partnership will charge its customers for natural gas effective April 1, 2023.

The OEB has posted amendments to Rule 22 of the Rules of Practice and Procedure and the Practice Direction on Cost Awards, as well as new forms for interventions and a related Intervention Process Guidance Document.

The OEB has taken data transparency and accessibility one step further through the launch of its Interactive System Reliability Dashboard. The dashboard provides consumers with an interactive and customizable tool to better understand and visualize electricity distributors’ system reliability data including breakdown by cause codes. The dashboard provides monthly and annual data on reliability performance for a single electricity distributor, two electricity distributors presented side-by-side, as well as the electricity distribution industry as a whole.

The OEB has issued a letter providing information about communication materials that electricity distributors can use to assist with the implementation of the Ultra-Low Overnight (ULO) Price Plan, as well as introducing a new reporting requirement for distributors related to ULO.

The OEB has accepted an Assurance of Voluntary Compliance from Weyerhaeuser Company Limited, an electricity wholesaler. The Assurance responds to non-compliance related to operation in the electricity market without a wholesaler licence.