[38] Bill 4 Royal Assent (PDF)
Bill 4 2003
An Act to amend the
Ontario Energy Board Act, 1998
with respect to electricity pricing
Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:
1. Section 78 of the Ontario Energy Board Act, 1998, as amended by the Statutes of Ontario, 2000, chapter 26, Schedule D, section 2, 2002, chapter 1, Schedule B, section 8 and 2003, chapter 3, section 52, is amended by adding the following subsections:
Same, separate rates for situations prescribed by regulation
(5) The Board shall approve or fix separate rates under this section for the different situations prescribed by the regulations made under clause 88 (1) (g.4).
Same, obligations under s. 29 of Electricity Act, 1998
(5.0.1) In approving or fixing just and reasonable rates for the retailing of electricity in order to meet a distributor's obligations under section 29 of the Electricity Act, 1998, the Board shall comply with the regulations made under clause 88 (1) (g.5).
2. Subsection 79.1 (24) of the Act, as enacted by the Statutes of Ontario, 2002, chapter 23, section 4, is amended by striking out "This section is" at the beginning and substituting "This section and clauses 88 (1) (j) to (o) are".
3. Subsection 79.2 (5) of the Act, as enacted by the Statutes of Ontario, 2002, chapter 23, section 4, is amended by striking out "This section is" at the beginning and substituting "This section and clauses 88 (1) (p) and (q) are".
4. Subsection 79.3 (3) of the Act, as enacted by the Statutes of Ontario, 2002, chapter 23, section 4, is repealed and the following substituted:
New or amended orders
(3) Subsections (1) and (2) are subject to,
(a) a new order under section 78 that is authorized by law;
(b) an amendment to an order under section 78 that is authorized by law.
5. (1) Subsection 79.4 (1) of the Act, as enacted by the Statutes of Ontario, 2002, chapter 23, section 4, is repealed and the following substituted:
Commodity price for electricity: low-volume and designated consumers
(1) Despite section 79.3, despite any order under section 78 and, subject to subsection (6), despite any agreement to the contrary, the commodity price for electricity payable by a low-volume consumer or designated consumer is,
(a) with respect to electricity used on or after the day this clause comes into force and before May 1, 2005 or such earlier date as is prescribed by the regulations, the price determined in accordance with the regulations; and
(b) with respect to electricity used on or after May 1, 2005 or such earlier date as is prescribed by the regulations, the price determined by the Board in accordance with the regulations.
Same
(1.1) The Board shall not make any price determinations for the purpose of clause (1) (b) unless a regulation has been made under clause 88 (1) (r.1).
(2) Subsection 79.4 (3) of the Act, as enacted by the Statutes of Ontario, 2002, chapter 23, section 4, is amended by striking out "the day this section comes into force" and substituting "December 9, 2002".
(3) Subsection 79.4 (5) of the Act, as enacted by the Statutes of Ontario, 2002, chapter 23, section 4, is amended by striking out "the day this section comes into force" and substituting "December 9, 2002".
(4) Subsection 79.4 (6) of the Act, as enacted by the Statutes of Ontario, 2002, chapter 23, section 4, is amended by striking out "the day this section comes into force" at the end and substituting "December 9, 2002".
(5) Subsection 79.4 (7) of the Act, as enacted by the Statutes of Ontario, 2002, chapter 23, section 4, is repealed.
6. (1) Subsection 79.6 (1) of the Act, as enacted by the Statutes of Ontario, 2002, chapter 23, section 4, is repealed and the following substituted:
Applications under s. 78
(1) An application for an order under section 78 may be made only with the written approval of the Minister if the application relates to,
(a) rates for the distributing of electricity; or
(b) rates for the retailing of electricity in order to meet a distributor's obligations under section 29 of the Electricity Act, 1998.
(2) Clause 79.6 (2) (b) of the Act, as enacted by the Statutes of Ontario, 2002, chapter 23, section 4, is repealed and the following substituted:
(b) at the time the Minister's approval is sought, there is no order under section 78 in effect that relates to rates for,
(i) the distributing of electricity, if the approval is sought for an application that relates to rates for the distributing of electricity, or
(ii) the retailing of electricity in order to meet a distributor's obligations under section 29 of the Electricity Act, 1998, if the approval is sought for an application that relates to rates for the retailing of electricity in order to meet those obligations;
(3) Subsection 79.6 (5) of the Act, as enacted by the Statutes of Ontario, 2002, chapter 23, section 4, is repealed and the following substituted:
Board may not commence proceeding
(5) Despite subsection 19 (4), the Board may not commence a proceeding of its own motion for an order under section 78 that relates to rates referred to in clause (1) (a) or (b).
7. Section 79.7 of the Act, as enacted by the Statutes of Ontario, 2002, chapter 23, section 4, is repealed and the following substituted:
Board may not review
79.7 Section 21.2 of the Statutory Powers Procedure Act does not apply to an order under section 78 that relates to rates referred to in clause 79.6 (1) (a) or (b).
8. Subsection 79.8 (1) of the Act, as enacted by the Statutes of Ontario, 2002, chapter 23, section 4, is repealed and the following substituted:
Minister may require amendment
(1) Despite any other provision of this Act, the Minister may require the Board, in the manner specified by the Minister, to amend an order under section 78 that relates to rates referred to in clause 79.6 (1) (a) or (b), including an order referred to in subsection 79.3 (1) or (2) that relates to those rates.
9. Subsection 79.9 (1) of the Act, as enacted by the Statutes of Ontario, 2002, chapter 23, section 4, is repealed and the following substituted:
Minister may require review
(1) The Minister may require the Board to review any order under section 78 that relates to rates referred to in clause 79.6 (1) (a) or (b), including an order referred to in subsection 79.3 (1) or (2) that relates to those rates, or any part of such an order, and to report to the Minister on the results of the review, including any recommendations of the Board.
10. Section 79.11 of the Act, as enacted by the Statutes of Ontario, 2002, chapter 23, section 4, is repealed and the following substituted:
Repeal
79.11 (1) Sections 79.3 to 79.10, clauses 88 (1) (r) to (v) and subsections 88 (2.1) and (2.2) are repealed on a day to be named by proclamation of the Lieutenant Governor.
Same
(2) Any proclamation under subsection (1) may apply to all of the provisions referred to in subsection (1) or to any section, subsection or clause in those provisions, and proclamations may be issued at different times with respect to all of those provisions or any section, subsection or clause in those provisions.
Same
(3) Any provision in the provisions referred to in subsection (1) that is not repealed under that subsection before May 1, 2006 is repealed on May 1, 2006.
11. (1) Subsection 88 (1) of the Act, as amended by the Statutes of Ontario, 2002, chapter 1, Schedule B, section 10, 2002, chapter 23, section 4 and 2003, chapter 3, section 56, is amended by adding the following clauses:
(g.4) prescribing different situations for which separate rates must be approved or fixed under section 78, with those situations being defined with reference to amounts of electricity used and times when electricity is used;
(g.5) governing the approving or fixing under section 78 of just and reasonable rates for the retailing of electricity in order to meet a distributor's obligations under section 29 of the Electricity Act, 1998, including prescribing methods of and procedures for approving or fixing rates, including requiring persons licensed under this Part to participate in those methods and procedures and to enter into contracts or other arrangements as part of those methods and procedures;
(2) Clause 88 (1) (r) of the Act, as enacted by the Statutes of Ontario, 2002, chapter 23, section 4, is repealed and the following substituted:
(r) prescribing prices or methods for determining prices for the purpose of clause 79.4 (1) (a), including prescribing separate prices or methods for different situations, including situations defined with respect to types of consumers and amounts of electricity used;
(r.1) governing the determination of prices by the Board under clause 79.4 (1) (b), including,
(i) prescribing methods of and procedures for determining prices, including requiring persons licensed under this Part to participate in those methods and procedures and to enter into contracts or other arrangements as part of those methods and procedures, and
(ii) prescribing different situations for which separate prices must be determined, including situations defined with respect to types of consumers, amounts of electricity used and times when electricity is used;
(r.2) prescribing a date earlier than May 1, 2005 for the purpose of clauses 79.4 (1) (a) and (b);
(3) Clause 88 (1) (t) of the Act, as enacted by the Statutes of Ontario, 2002, chapter 23, section 4, is repealed and the following substituted:
(t) prescribing prices or methods for determining prices for the purpose of subsection 79.5 (1), including prescribing separate prices or methods for different situations, including situations defined with respect to amounts of electricity used and times when electricity is used;
12. (1) Subsection 88.0.1 (1) of the Act, as enacted by the Statutes of Ontario, 2002, chapter 23, section 4, is amended by adding the following clauses:
(c.1) to provide for payments to consumers, if the Minister of Finance determines that, in respect of the period to which clause 79.4 (1) (a) applied, the amount received by the Financial Corporation in connection with this Act exceeds the amount expended by the Financial Corporation in connection with this Act;
(c.2) to compensate distributors, retailers and the IMO for payments made by them pursuant to clause (c.1);
(2) Subsection 88.0.1 (2) of the Act, as enacted by the Statutes of Ontario, 2002, chapter 23, section 4, is amended by adding the following clause:
(c.1) requiring distributors, retailers or the IMO to make payments to consumers to whom subsection 79.4 (1) applied during the period to which clause 79.4 (1) (a) applied;
(3) Clause 88.0.1 (2) (d) of the Act, as enacted by the Statutes of Ontario, 2002, chapter 23, section 4, is amended by striking out "clause (a), (b) or (c)" and substituting "clause (a), (b), (c) or (c.1)".
(4) Clause 88.0.1 (2) (h) of the Act, as enacted by the Statutes of Ontario, 2002, chapter 23, section 4, is amended by striking out "consumers who are not low-volume consumers or designated consumers, or" and substituting "consumers or".
(5) Subsection 88.0.1 (6) of the Act, as enacted by the Statutes of Ontario, 2002, chapter 23, section 4, is amended by striking out "clause (2) (c), (d), (e), (f) or (g)" and substituting "clause (2) (c), (c.1), (d), (e), (f) or (g)".
(6) Section 88.0.1 of the Act, as enacted by the Statutes of Ontario, 2002, chapter 23, section 4, is amended by adding the following subsections:
No assignment
(6.1) An assignment by a consumer to a retailer of the entitlement to any payment does not apply to a payment that is required by the regulations made under clause (2) (c.1), whether the assignment was made before or after this subsection comes into force.
Purpose of payments
(6.2) Any payments that are required by the regulations made under clause (2) (c.1) are for the purpose of reimbursing consumers for part of the commodity price they paid for electricity.
Commencement
13. This Act comes into force on a day to be named by proclamation of the Lieutenant Governor.
Short title
14. The short title of this Act is the Ontario Energy Board Amendment Act (Electricity Pricing), 2003.
EXPLANATORY NOTE
This Explanatory Note was written as a reader's aid to Bill 4 and does not form part of the law. Bill 4 has been enacted as Chapter 8 of the Statutes of Ontario, 2003.
Sections 79.3 to 79.10 of the Ontario Energy Board Act, 1998 contain provisions relating to electricity pricing that, under section 79.11, may be repealed by proclamation of the Lieutenant Governor on or after May 1, 2006. The Bill amends section 79.11 to provide that those provisions will be repealed on May 1, 2006, unless they are repealed earlier by proclamation of the Lieutenant Governor. The amendments made by the Bill include the following changes to those provisions:
1. Section 79.4 of the Act deals with the commodity price for electricity payable by low-volume consumers and designated consumers. The existing section provides for a price of 4.3 cents per kilowatt hour or such lower price as the Lieutenant Governor in Council may prescribe by regulation. The Bill amends section 79.4 to provide that, with respect to electricity used before May 1, 2005 or such earlier date as is prescribed by the regulations, the price will be determined by a regulation made by the Lieutenant Governor in Council. With respect to electricity used on or after May 1, 2005, or the earlier date prescribed by the regulations, the price will be determined by the Ontario Energy Board in accordance with the regulations.
2. Section 79.6 of the existing Act requires the approval of the Minister of Energy for an application to the Ontario Energy Board to approve or fix new rates for transmitting electricity, distributing electricity or retailing electricity to meet a distributor's default supply obligations under section 29 of the Electricity Act, 1998. The Bill amends section 79.6 so that the approval requirement no longer applies to rates for transmitting electricity. Corresponding changes are made to sections 79.7, 79.8 and 79.9, which deal with the Board's power to review its rate orders, the Minister's power to require amendments to rate orders and the Minister's power to require reviews of rate orders.
Other amendments made by the Bill include the following:
1. Section 78 of the Act is amended to require the Ontario Energy Board to approve or fix separate electricity rates for different situations prescribed by regulation. Those situations would be defined with reference to amounts of electricity used and times when electricity is used. In addition, with respect to rates for the retailing of electricity in order to meet a distributor's default supply obligations under section 29 of the Electricity Act, 1998, section 78 is amended to require the Board to comply with regulations governing the approving or fixing of those rates.
2. Section 88.0.1 of the Act is amended to permit the making of regulations requiring distributors, retailers or the Independent Electricity Market Operator (the IMO) to make payments to certain low-volume consumers and designated consumers, if the Minister of Finance determines that, in respect of the period for which the commodity price for electricity was determined by the Lieutenant Governor in Council, the amount received by the Ontario Electricity Financial Corporation in connection with the Act exceeds the amount expended by the Corporation in connection with the Act. Regulations may also be made to compensate distributors, retailers and the IMO for making any payments required under the amendments.