What Initiatives are Available?

The Ontario Government is taking steps to ensure there is an adequate supply of electricity for Ontarians. Among the ways it is doing so is by welcoming and encouraging small, renewable energy projects.

If you are interested in generating electricity, either to sell or to earn credits toward your energy bill, there are two recent initiatives you should know about:

Net Metering
Standard Offer Program

Net Metering

Electricity consumers in Ontario who produce some of their own power (e.g., farmers) may take advantage of “net metering”, an initiative of the Ministry of Energy. Net metering allows you to send electricity you generate from renewable sources to the distribution system for a credit toward your energy costs. In essence, it’s a “trade” of electricity you supply against electricity you consume.

How does it work? Once you’re connected to the system (discussed in the next section), your local distribution company will continue to read your meter just as they do now (though they may need to change the meter in order to be able to record the information they need) and then subtract the value of electricity you supply to the grid from the value of what you take from the grid. What you’ll see on your bill is the “net” difference between these two amounts. If you supply more power than what you take from the grid over the billing cycle, you’ll receive a credit toward future energy bills.

Eligibility criteria includes, but is not limited to:

You must be a customer of a distributor and you generate electricity primarily for your own use;
The electricity is generated solely from a renewable source (wind, water, solar power or agricultural/farm biomass); and
The maximum capacity of the generation facility is 500 kilowatts or less.

Learn more from the Ministry of Energy website.

Standard Offer Program (SOP)

Under this program, which is administered by the Ontario Power Authority (OPA), eligible small generators can sign a contract for up to 20 years to sell electricity under contract with the OPA and receive a guaranteed price per kilowatt hour.

Eligibility criteria includes, but is not limited to:

Projects that produce 10 megawatts or less; and
Projects that generate electricity from a renewable resource (wind, thermal electric solar, photovoltaic solar system, renewable biomass, bio-gas, bio-fuel, landfill gas, or water).

The OPA will pay generators a guaranteed price per kilowatt hour as follows:

Electricity produced from any renewable resource other than photovoltaic will be paid 11 cents per kilowatt-hour. This rate will escalate over the term of the contract for inflation. There will also be an additional payment for generation facilities that can provide on-peak production.
Electricity produced from photovoltaic will be paid 42 cents per kilowatt hour for the entire term of the contract (not eligible for inflation increases or peak performance).

Learn more from the OPA website.

Comparing the Options

	Net Metering	Standard Offer Program
Designed for...	Any customer of a distributor who produces electricity primarily for his/her own use and the electricity comes from a renewable source.	Any person who produces electricity primarily for sale under contract with the OPA and the electricity comes from a renewable source.
How It Works...	A “trade” of electricity you supply versus electricity you consume. Electricity is provided to the local distributor on an ‘ad hoc’ basis or when practical to do so – i.e., whenever you have excess electricity. Credits are applied toward your energy bill if you produce more energy than you use.	Electricity is sold on a regular basis under the terms of an SOP contract. Local utility pays you the SOP price.
Project size...	500 kilowatts or less.	10 megawatts or less.
Licensing fees	No.	Yes (Some exemptions may apply. Contact the OEB for more information.)
Metering requirements	Less onerous - While your local utility may need to install a different meter, it will continue to read the meter just as it does now.	May be more onerous – depends on the type of generation facility or generation technology and the metering requirements necessary for settlement purposes.

Concerns, Complaints, Questions

Call the OEB’s Market Operations Hotline at 416-440-7604 for additional general information on the connection process or for assistance in resolving issues with respect to a specific connection. The OEB has processes in place for dealing with inquiries and disputes. Our role is to ensure distributors connect generators to the distribution system in accordance with the legislation and other regulatory instruments.