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North Bay Hydro has implemented the provincial government’s Fair Hydro Plan (FHP) – see FAQ’s below for more info.

 Q: Will I see a 25% credit on my bill?

            No, the average 25% reduction is a combination of changes to your bill, including the 8% rebate. You will see the most direct impact of the reduction in the form of lower RPP pricing, either time-of-use (TOU) or tier, on your bill under your electricity charges.

 Q: How do I know or figure out what my bill reduction is?

            The rates were set so that a ‘proxy’ customer (see Q below) will see a 25% reduction ($41) on a total bill. Your reduction will be based on your individual electricity usage and will be most noticeable on the TOU/tier lines of your bill at the reduced rates.

 Q: What is a ‘proxy’ customer?

            Because distribution rates vary across the province and customers use different amounts of electricity, the proxy customer has been deemed a residential customer of Toronto Hydro who uses 750 kWh of electricity a month, pays TOU prices and has the TOU consumption profile of a typical residential customer.

Please go to https://www.oeb.ca/newsroom/2017/fair-hydro-act-2017 for more information.

In a process that began years ago, as the residents of the Pinewood area can attest to, North Bay Hydro began making changes and upgrades to the majority of the infrastructure in the area, including back lot poles, wires, and the substation supplying the area, all of which were 60 years of age or older. The improvements were implemented to replace end of life infrastructure at high risk of failure, and ensure accessibility and continued reliable operation of the electrical system supplying the neighborhood. These objectives were achieved by the work, however, the new design of the substation has proven vulnerable to animal contact which in turn has led to over 6 long duration outage events in the past 7 years.  For this reason, NBH is reconstructing a part of the substation to eliminate the issue in the future.                                                                                                                                                                                          

The new infrastructure will eliminate exposure and further increase reliability and help ensure lower future operational costs. This work should be completed before year end. In the interim, other substations are supplying the impacted area.

The OEB has received reports that consumers have received phone calls, or approached by salespeople claiming to represent the OEB, offering energy conservation rebates on furnaces or water heaters and other financial incentives and saying that a home inspection was required.
These claims are untrue and violate OEB regulations that protect consumers. Consumers with questions or concerns about any sales calls or door-to-door experiences are encouraged to contact the OEB at 1-877-632-2727 within the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday to Friday.
If you receive a call or are approached at the door by an electricity or natural gas sales person, remember:
• Ask to see identification.
• Ask for a business ID card with the sales representative’s company information.
• Energy retailers can come to your home at certain times and give you information, but may not leave a copy of an energy contract with you.
Do not sign a contract at the door (this practice was banned by the OEB as of January 1, 2017

The Electricity Distributors Association new Your Voice Has Power program (www.YourVoiceHasPower.com) will engage interested Ontario electricity customers in an on-going discussion on such issues as pricing, distributed energy, and the cost of electricity. Results will help inform electricity decision makers in the province.

The Ontario Energy Board issued its Distribution Rate Order Decision for approval of distribution rates, effective May 1, 2017.

Please see the attached Decision and Order for further information.

Dec_Rate Order_North Bay Hydro_20170330

North Bay Hydro is currently working on upgrading existing infrastructure to ensure long term reliability for our community for both today, and the future.

During this time, certain loads in the areas of Pinewood, Thibeault Terrace, and Highway 11 North, have been shifted, and are being fed from alternate Sub-Stations. As a result, they may be more susceptible to an “Auto-Reclose” event.

What is an ‘auto-reclose’?

Auto-reclose events are the reason for short periods (seconds) of power loss.  It is commonly referred to as a blip, or a quick on/off.

 Electricity can seriously injure or even kill. When an object such as a tree, bird or animal touches the overhead high voltage wires in such a way that creates a short circuit or fault, a breaker with reclosing ability will open up and cut power to allow for the object to clear the line. The breaker will then close quickly to restore power, hence the term auto-reclose. The system is designed this way to offset larger costs associated with the damage or loss of infrastructure that results from these faults , and maintain expenses that are typically associated with such an occurrence.

 In cases where the fault isn’t cleared from the reclosing function, the breaker will open again and remain open until a North Bay Hydro crew is dispatched to the area.

 In the past month we have, unfortunately, had a higher number of incidences in the West area of North Bay. These happenings have been a result of both tree and squirrel contact. However, rest assured, the North Bay Hydro System is working exactly how it is designed, and ensuring outages are simple and short in duration.

 North Bay Hydro also uses both Facebook and Twitter to communicate outage information with our community! 

North Bay Hydro has submitted its 2017 electricity distribution rate application to the Ontario Energy Board for rates effective May 1, 2017. The proposed rate application would result in a slight decrease for Residential customers (750 kWh) of ($1.01) per month (-.70%). Small business customers (2,000 kWh) would have a similar bill impact reduction of ($2.90) or (-.76%).

NorthBay_EB-2016-0214_APPL_2017 IRM_09262016