Affordable Electricity Act, 2018 MacLaren, Jack — Bill 197 (41st Parliament, 2nd Session)

Bill 197, 41-2

Ontario — Bills

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Bill 197, Affordable Electricity Act, 2018

MacLaren, Jack

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[41] Bill 197 Original (PDF)

EXPLANATORY

NOTE

The

Affordable Electricity Act, 2018 is enacted. The

Act imposes a duty on the Minister of Energy to ensure that residents and small

businesses in Ontario have access to clean electricity at the lowest possible

cost, and sets out several requirements that must be met by December 31, 2018,

in order for that duty to be fulfilled.

Bill 197 2018

Act respecting affordable electricity

Her

Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the

Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:

Duties

of the Minister of Energy

(1) The

Minister of Energy shall ensure that residents and small businesses in Ontario

have access to clean electricity at the lowest possible cost.

Same

(2) In

order to fulfil the duty under subsection (1), the Minister shall, by December

31, 2018,

(

a) ensure

that all regulations and policies that relate to the generation, transmission,

distribution and sale of electricity in Ontario are amended to place the

highest priority on minimizing the cost of electricity to customers, including

by,

(

i) requiring

publicly owned water-powered and nuclear-powered generating stations to be used

to maximum advantage,

(ii) ensuring

that electricity that is distributed through the electricity distribution grid

is supplied on the basis of competitive bids from all potential suppliers,

(iii) establishing

full transparency in the electricity regulation process to ensure that all

decisions that affect electricity pricing are open to public scrutiny and to

ensure that electricity pricing is not subject to hidden interference by any

government entity or any private party, and

(iv) requiring

all pricing arrangements and payments between electric utilities and electricity

suppliers to be made available to the public, including all cost agreements

that relate to the funding of electricity suppliers for remaining on stand by

and for refraining from putting electricity into the electricity distribution grid

at times of surplus supply;

(

b) eliminate

all preferential treatment for new wind and solar electricity generation projects

and terminate all existing subsidies for wind and solar electricity generation

projects at the earliest possible opportunity;

(

c) cancel

all conservation program subsidies paid by the Independent Electricity System

Operator;

(

d) establish

procedures to ensure that the electricity distribution grid is regulated in a

way that provides maximum benefit to electricity customers in Ontario by,

(

i) requiring

the grid to be maintained in an efficient state to serve all customers,

(ii) ensuring

that the costs for maintaining and operating the grid are reduced to levels

that are comparable with costs in the most cost-effective private operations,

(iii) requiring

all costs associated with operating the grid to be open to public scrutiny,

(iv) ensuring

that electricity customers receive the full benefit of cost savings that arise

from more cost-effective management of the grid,

(

v) removing

every restriction that limits the ability of a potential supplier of

electricity to use the grid to transport electricity to any willing customer,

and

(vi) ensuring

that the cost that is charged for the use of the grid is proportional to the

actual cost of providing the service;

(

e) prohibit

any measure that results in electricity prices being artificially lowered by

borrowing money today that must be paid back in the future;

(

f) require

all electricity bills to itemize the amount of deferred costs that customers

will have to pay in the future as a result of the Ontario

Fair Hydro Plan Act, 2017 and all other Ontario Acts,

regulations or policies;

(

g) require

all electricity bills to itemize the portion of the bill that deals with the

repayment of sunk costs and to identify the Act that requires such repayment

and the year the requirement came into force; and

(

h) ensure

that surplus electricity generated in Ontario is made available to Ontario customers

on a first priority basis, and that customers in Ontario can purchase that

surplus electricity at the lowest rate at which it is being offered to

customers in neighbouring provinces or neighbouring states of the United States

of America, by,

(

i) modifying

metering systems to allow electricity customers to take advantage of the actual

costs of production at any particular instant, including at times

when users are paid to take surplus electricity out of the grid,

(ii) conducting

a study to identify other ways to allow Ontario residents to benefit

immediately from more efficient use of the electricity system, and

(iii) implementing

regulatory and policy changes to ensure that customers benefit from reduced

costs that result from more efficient use of the electricity system.

Commencement

This Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.

Short

title

The

short title of this Act is the Affordable Electricity

Act, 2018 .

Date Bill stage Activity Committee

February 22, 2018

Ordered referred to Committee of the Whole House

February 22, 2018

Second Reading

Carried on division

February 22, 2018

Second Reading

Debate

February 21, 2018

First Reading

Carried

Debates and Progress

First Reading

February 21, 2018

Committee

Second Reading

February 22, 2018

Mr. Jack MacLaren, Mr. Lou Rinaldi, Mr. Todd Smith, Mr. John Vanthof, Mr. Bob Delaney, Mrs. Gila Martow

February 22, 2018

Carried on division. Referred to the Committee of the Whole House.

Committee

Committee of the Whole House

Third Reading

Royal Assent

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Document details

Collection	Ontario — Bills
Citation	Bill 197, 41-2
Type	bill
Volume / chapter	p41 s2 bill 197 html
Language	en
Format	html
Source	PROVINCIAL
Identifier	e331dd77bf0de90fecbbc3600e6a4e970486db22

Source file is stored in the law ingest library (html).