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On March 11, 2005, the Ontario Energy Board (OEB) announced changes in the price of electricity for Ontario residential, low volume and designated consumers that took effect on April 1, 2005. The new rate is 5 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) for the first 750 kWh of consumption per month and 5.8 cents per kWh per month over this amount.

These prices are intended to stay the same for one year. At the end of the year, and every six months after that, the prices consumers pay for electricity may change based on an updated Board forecast and any difference in the amount consumers paid for electricity and the amount paid to generators.

Eligibility for the new electricity price plan is determined by government through regulation. The Minister of Energy indicated that eligible consumers include those in the residential class, consumers that use less than 250,000 kWh per year and consumers in the municipal, university, school and hospital sectors. These consumers will be eligible for the price plan until 2008, at which time eligibility will be limited to residential consumers and consumers that are classified as “general service less than 50 kWh demand” by their utility.

The new price plan also introduces time-of-use pricing for those consumers with smart meters. The plan outlines the specific hours for time-of-use pricing periods and sets the prices that apply to those periods. Utilities will not be obligated to provide time-of-use pricing to consumers with smart meters until April 1, 2006, but may introduce it earlier if they choose. The time-of-use price structure has different price levels based on the period of use during the day, weekday, holiday and season. Off-peak rates, for example are 2.9 cents compared to a high of 9.3 cents for the on-peak rate.

The OEB’s announcement was specific to residential, low-volume and designated consumers and does not impact larger volume users, for whom the pricing structure remains unchanged.

Website Links

Save Energy Dollars
www.orhma.com/NEWS/saving_energy_dollars.asp

Energy Conservation Training Modules
www.orhma.com/training/course_outlines.asp

Increasing Energy Efficiency
for Motel & Hotel Air Conditioners

The Ontario Government has increased the energy efficiency require-ments for the manufacturing of Packaged Terminal Air Conditioners and Heat Pumps (PTAC/HP) in a move that will transform the marketplace.

The regulation (Regulation 384/05 under the Energy Efficiency Act), affects the factory-manufactured units frequently used to heat and cool motel and hotel rooms – those that have a wall sleeve and a separate unencased combination of heating and cooling assemblies that are mounted through the wall.

As of September 1, 2005, all new PTAC/HPs manufactured will have to meet the new standards. Facilities that install the new units can anticipate energy consumption reductions of on average 19 per cent in cooling mode and 10 per cent in heating mode. The requirements are geared to the manufacturing sector but will affect hotel and motel operators looking to update the units in future. The regulation does not affect existing units.

Here are some key items you should be aware of:

•To meet maximum efficiencies, the new air conditioning units will be larger than current units. For that reason the new regulation primarily applies to units designed for installation in new construction projects.

•A second lesser standard applies to units for use in current buildings that are designed for the smaller units that are installed today. (Replacement units will be required to feature a tag indicating that they are replacement parts and not for new construction projects.)

• To ensure that you are getting a high efficiency unit, you’ll need to make sure that it is carrying a mark indicating that its energy performance has been verified by a certification organization accredited by the Standards Council of Canada.

• The new regulation impacts only units manufactured as of September 1, 2005, and does not affect those that are currently in place or that have been produced for sale to date.

For more information on the new requirements contact the
Ministry of Energy Infoline at 1-888-668-4636.

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