Regulatory and Customer Notices

The Ontario Energy Board (OEB) regulates the energy sector in Ontario in the public's interest. Below, are the regulatory filings that have been approved by the OEB for EPCOR's Southern Bruce natural gas operations.

Changes to natural gas rates starting April 2021

Quarterly rate changes to your monthly gas bill

As EPCOR Natural Gas customers, you will have received the following notice that outlines the changes you will see on your monthly bill as of April 1, 2021. For more information, please contact our Customer Service team at 1 (888) 765-2256.

Gas commodity

On all bills rendered by EPCOR on or after April 1, 2021, the price we charge for the gas commodity and transportation portion of your bill will be increasing by $0.002801 per cubic metre to $0.135771 per cubic metre. The Ontario Energy Board (OEB) has approved this change to reflect the prices that EPCOR expects that it will be paying to its gas suppliers through to the end of March 2022. On your gas bill this cost is on the line entitled "Gas Commodity."

As a regulated utility, EPCOR is permitted to recover what it pays for the purchase of gas plus any costs reasonably associated with this purchase but with no mark up or 'profit.' The price the utility charges you is based on the forecasted gas and transportation costs to EPCOR, which are periodically reviewed by the OEB and reconciled with actual costs. The gas commodity portion gets adjusted regularly throughout the year as the price of the gas commodity changes.

How will the price change impact you?

That will depend on the amount of gas that you use. For a typical residential customer who consumes approximately 2,150 cubic metres of gas annually, this price change will cause your annual heating costs to increase by approximately $6.02 per year. For customers who have arranged to have their gas supplied by a gas marketer/broker, the price may or may not change depending on the terms of the contract the customer has with the gas marketer/broker.

Federal Carbon Pricing Plan

In 2019, the Federal government implemented a carbon tax as part of the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act (GGPPA). This charge recovers costs associated with the GGPPA and reflects your monthly consumption, as well as delivery of natural gas to you and EPCOR's facilities. On April 1, 2021, the carbon charge for natural gas will increase from $0.0587 per cubic metre to $0.0783 per cubic metre of natural gas use. For a typical residential customer who consumes approximately 2,150 cubic metres of gas annually, this price change will cause your annual heating costs to increase by approximately $42 per year.
View the OEB Decision and Rate Order EB-2021-0100