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Posted in: Practice & Procedure | Ontario | Consumer Protection

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OEB initiates Phase 2 of Its Customer Service Rules Review By David Stevens Nov 13, 2018 The Ontario Energy Board has now announced plans to proceed with “Phase 2” of its Customer Service Rules Review. This article outlines key areas of focus.

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OEB Issues Report Proposing Changes to Utility Customer Service Rules By David Stevens Sep 17, 2018 As we discussed in an earlier post, the Ontario Energy Board has been engaged in a review of Customer Service Rules for Electricity and Gas consumers. This was promised at the time that the OEB first implemented new rules to ban local electricity distribution companies from disconnecting resident...

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Aggregate Approach Applied By OEB to Determine Meaning of “Consumer” Under ECPA By David Stevens and Stan Fedun Jun 25, 2018 The Ontario Energy Board (OEB) recently ruled that the Energy Consumer Protection Act, 2010, (the Act) allows a retailer to aggregate a customer’s consumption at multiple locations for the purpose of determining whether or not that customer is exempt from certain requirements under the Act.

Posted in: Ontario | Consumer Protection

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Ontario Implements New Restrictions on Door-to-Door Transactions, but Delays Some New Requirements to May 1st By David Stevens Mar 05, 2018 As described in recent posts, Ontario has implemented new provisions of the Ontario Consumer Protection Act that will prohibit a range of door-to door consumer transactions. The new rules, which came into effect on March 1, 2018, make unsolicited “direct agreements” unenforceable for HVAC equipme...

Posted in: Ontario | Consumer Protection

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Ontario Publishes Documentation Requirements for Exempt HVAC Door-to-Door Transactions By David Stevens Feb 12, 2018 Recently, we wrote about new provisions of the Ontario Consumer Protection Act (CPA) that will prohibit a range of door-to door consumer transactions. The new rules, which come into effect on March 1, 2018, will make unsolicited “direct agreements” unenforceable for HVAC equipment and other items...

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OEB Announces Additional RPP Pricing Pilot Program Approvals By David Stevens Feb 06, 2018 The Ontario Energy Board (OEB) has recently announced another participant in its Regulated Price Plan (RPP) pricing pilot program. CustomerFirst will test two different RPP pricing pilots in the service territories of 6 distributors: Newmarket-Tay Power Distribution Ltd., Greater Sudbury Hydro In...

Posted in: Consumer Protection | Ontario

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Ontario Ban on Door-to-Door Agreements for HVAC Products Comes Into Effect on March 1, 2018 By David Stevens Jan 24, 2018 New provisions of the Ontario Consumer Protection Act will prohibit a range of door-to-door consumer transactions. The new rules, which come into effect on March 1, 2018, will make unsolicited “direct agreements” for HVAC equipment and other household appliances unenforceable. Newly-released amen...

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Ontario Proposes New Regulations to Support Expanded Net Metering By David Stevens Dec 08, 2017 A series of recent postings to Ontario’s Regulatory Registry set out proposed amended or new regulations that are intended to support expanded net metering opportunities in Ontario. These proposals follow the commitment in Ontario’s 2017 Long-Term Energy Plan (2017 LTEP) to give customers new way...

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Court Denies Certification of Proposed Class Action Against Hydro One By David Stevens Dec 07, 2017 On November 28, 2017, the Ontario Superior Court dismissed a motion to certify a class action against Hydro One Networks Inc. (Hydro One) that sought damages of $100 million related to alleged overcharges resulting from the rollout of a new customer information system (CIS) starting in 2013. As s...

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Directives Issued to IESO and OEB to Prepare Implementation Plans for 2017 LTEP By David Stevens Nov 16, 2017 In late October, Ontario’s Minister of Energy (Glenn Thibeault) issued Directives to the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) and the Ontario Energy Board (OEB), requiring each body to prepare “implementation plans” setting out the steps they intend to take to implement the goals and ob...

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Ontario Ministry of Energy Proposes Regulatory Changes to Start Implementing 2017 LTEP By David Stevens Nov 15, 2017 As we discussed in an earlier post, many of the new initiatives set out in Ontario’s 2017 Long-Term Energy Plan (2017 LTEP) will require changes to statutes and/or regulations. Late last month, the Ontario Ministry of Energy announced changes to a couple of regulations to begin implementing annou...

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OEB Again Bans Winter Disconnections of Residential Electricity Customers By David Stevens Nov 06, 2017 On November 2, 2017, the Ontario Energy Board (OEB) issued a Decision and Order amending the licences of electricity distributors to direct that residential customers may not be disconnected during the winter season. This follows a similar OEB direction last winter that was put into place after t...

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Ontario’s New Long Term Energy Plan Stays the Course By David Stevens Nov 01, 2017 On October 26, 2017, Ontario’s Minister of Energy Glenn Thibeault released Ontario’s 2017 Long-Term Energy Plan (2017 LTEP). This long-awaited document is intended to set the course for Ontario’s energy supply over the coming years. While the 2017 LTEP does include some new plans and initiatives,...

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Proposed Legislation Would Require Cap and Trade Costs to Be Identified on Ontario Gas Bills By David Stevens Sep 28, 2017 The Transparency in Gas Pricing Act, 2017 passed second reading on September 21, 2017, and has been referred to the Ontario Legislature’s Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs. This proposed legislation, which is sponsored by an opposition party MP, would require that every gas...

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Selected Ontario Utilities to Test New Electricity Pricing Options By David Stevens Aug 30, 2017 On August 24, 2017, the Ontario Energy Board (OEB) announced that three Ontario electricity distributors will be implementing new electricity commodity pricing options for consumers who use the “Regulated Price Plan” (RPP). Among other things, the new pricing options will include “enhanced” Time-...

Posted in: Ontario | Consumer Protection

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Input Sought on Updated Regulations to Implement Ontario’s Door-to-Door Sales Ban and Other Changes to Consumer Loan and Lease Rules By David Stevens Jul 18, 2017 Ontario’s Ministry of Consumer Services recently released two Consultation Papers related to changes to the Consumer Protection Act (CPA) that had been enacted through Bill 59, which is titled Putting Consumers First Act (Consumer Protection Statute Law Amendment), 2017. The aim of the Cons...

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Ontario’s New Long-Term Energy Plan to Be Released Around Late Summer of 2017 By David Stevens Jul 11, 2017 On July 7, 2017, the Ontario Ministry of Energy released a proposal for a new Regulation under the Electricity Act, 1998 that will specify the timing for Ontario’s Long-Term Energy Plan (LTEP). If the Regulation is issued, then the new LTEP will be released within three months of the Regula...

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OEB Announces New Electricity Prices to Reflect the Fair Hydro Plan By David Stevens Jun 23, 2017 On June 22, 2017, the Ontario Energy Board announced new electricity prices that are intended to implement the promised 25% bill reduction from the Ontario Government’s Fair Hydro Plan.1 For most consumers, the impact will be seen in the form of reduced Regulated Price Plan (RPP) electricit...

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Regulations Published to Implement Ontario's Fair Hydro Plan By David Stevens Jun 22, 2017 On May 31, 2017, the Ontario Government passed Bill 132, which is intended to implement the Government’s promised Fair Hydro Plan (discussed in earlier posts, here, here and here). The main part of Bill 132 is the Ontario Fair Hydro Plan Act, 2017, which is included as Schedule I and is ref...

Posted in: Ontario | Energy Policy | Consumer Protection

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OEB Provides First Look at Proposed New Cyber Security Framework By Gaurav Gopinath and David Stevens Jun 16, 2017 In December 2015, the lights blinked out across multiple provinces in the Ivano-Frankivsk region of Ukraine. Nearly a quarter of a million people lost power. Shortly after power was restored, Ukraine’s Computer Emergency Response Team announced they had identified the root cause: a cyberatt...

Posted in: Consumer Protection | Ratemaking | Ontario

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OEB Expands Rate Review to Include Energy Retailer Service Charges By Stephanie D’Amico and David Stevens Jun 12, 2017 On May 31, 2017, the Ontario Energy Board (OEB) released a letter stating its intention to review and update Energy Retailer Service Charges for both electricity and natural gas distributors. The review is the second phase of a larger initiative undertaken by the OEB to reevaluate misce...

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Ontario’s Financial Accountability Office Finds That “Fair Hydro Plan” Has a Net Cost of $21 Billion By David Stevens May 25, 2017 On May 24, 2017, Ontario’s Financial Accountability Office (FAO) published its Assessment of the Fiscal Impact of the Province’s Fair Hydro Plan. This Assessment reviews how Ontario’s Fair Hydro Plan (FHP) will impact electricity ratepayers and provincial finances. As set out in...

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OEB Issues “Consumer Charter” and Announces Details of Review of Utilities’ Current Customer Service Rules By David Stevens May 24, 2017 On May 16, 2017, the Ontario Energy Board (OEB) published its “Consumer Charter.” As explained by the OEB, the Consumer Charter sets out the key rights held by Ontario energy consumers in an “easily understood format.” The consumer rights addressed in the Consumer Charter ...

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Recently-Posted OEB Report Supports Elimination of Distribution Charges for On-Reserve First Nations Customers By David Stevens Apr 27, 2017 As we discussed in an earlier post, one element of the Ontario Government’s Fair Hydro Plan proposes the creation of a First Nations On-Reserve Delivery Credit, which will eliminate the delivery charge for all on-reserve First Nations households. An Ontario Energy Board (OEB) Report to the ...

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