How Ontario electricity billing works

Ontario electricity bills are made up of several components that behave differently. Understanding each one makes the bill far more predictable.

Plain-language summary: Your bill includes usage charges, delivery charges, regulatory items, and system‑wide cost recovery. Not all of these change when your usage changes.

The main parts of an Ontario electricity bill

Electricity/Usage: What you used, billed under TOU or Tiered pricing.
Delivery: The cost of bringing electricity to your home.
Regulatory charges: System oversight and program costs.
Global Adjustment: System‑wide cost recovery.
HST: Tax applied to most charges.

Electricity/Usage

This is the portion most people focus on. It reflects your kWh usage under either:

Time‑of‑Use (TOU): Price varies by time of day.
Tiered: Price varies after you pass a monthly threshold.

Delivery charges

Delivery charges pay for the infrastructure that brings electricity to your home — poles, wires, transformers, substations, and system operations. Much of this cost is fixed, which is why delivery doesn’t fall much when usage falls.

Regulatory charges

These charges support system oversight, market operations, and conservation programs. They are set by the Ontario Energy Board (OEB) and apply to all customers.

Global Adjustment

Global Adjustment (GA) covers system‑wide costs such as contracts, conservation programs, and capacity payments. GA does not track your personal usage in a simple way, which is why it can rise or fall even when your usage stays the same.

Putting it all together

Your electricity bill is a combination of fixed, variable, and system‑wide charges. Understanding how each part behaves makes the bill easier to interpret — and far less surprising.