Alberta’s weighted average Power Pool Price for May is currently $126.78/MWh. Relative to last week’s price of $118.80/MWh, this results in a price increase of $7.98/MWh or 6.7%. Hourly average demand in the province saw a marginal increase of 70MW or 0.85%, with elevated off-peak prices limiting low demand period discounts. This is primarily due to high natural gas prices in the province, in addition to increased volatility associated with lower levels of wind and solar generation. Intermittent outages this week include Sheerness 1, HR Milner and Keephills 2.
The weighted average Hourly Ontario Energy Price (HOEP) is settling at 2.1¢/kWh so far for the month of May, representing a 0.2¢/kWh or 9.7% increase over last week’s settle. Driving this price incline is the increased use of demand response generators, which are typically expensive natural gas-burning ones. Natural gas-burning supply increased by 2.3% (484MW) over the course of this past week, while baseload generation such as nuclear and hydro lowered their output to an average of 8,794MW (-8%) and 4,734MW (-1.2%), respectively. Wind and solar increased output (+40.5%; 1,379MW, +43.7%; 114MW, respectively), whereas biofuel decreased (-5.6%, -14MW). With the first Global Adjustment estimated at 6.0¢/kWh, May’s total market price is settling at 8.1¢/kWh as of today.
On July 1, 2022, eligibility criteria for the Ontario Electricity Rebate (OER) program are expanding. This change impacts retirement residences, mobile home parks and common elements of suite-metered residential multi-unit complexes. Utilities are in the process of amending their OER Self-Declaration Forms to include expanded qualification criteria so that they may be submitted next month. Accounts whose demand is 50 KW or less, and/or whose annual usage is less than 250,001 kWh, automatically qualify and are not required to self-declare. Account holders that self-declared previously to receive the OER will have to do so again prior to October 31, 2022. The OER, which replaced the 8% Provincial Rebate and Fair Hydro Plan back in November 2019, is a 17% pre-tax credit that appears at the bottom of electricity bills.
– Mark Ljuckanov, Energy Advisor / Ryan Cosgrove, Energy Data Analyst / Grace Wilton, Senior Energy Advisor
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