Ontario's Energy Minister Todd Smith joined Oakville Hydro to launch its Green Button platform. It will allow participating families and businesses to track and control their energy use and save money on monthly bills while improving the efficiency of the province's energy grid.
Studies have found that when consumers have access to energy data, which Green Button along with smart home devices enables, they may realize energy savings of up to 18 percent. Ontario is the first province in Canada to mandate the Green Button standard.
The province's push for the Green Button energy program is to level electricity consumption. During peak hours, natural gas plants are used to subsidize our energy needs; however, during daily periods of low electrical consumption, the province's nuclear plants produce an overabundance which must be bled off.
The thought is if consumers are monetarily incentivized to charge their EVs or run dishwashers, washing machines, and clothes driers during low-demand hours (11:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.), consumers will alter their behaviour.
This will reduce the use of natural gas to produce energy and allow the electricity grid to function more effectively. It also benefits the environment by lowering carbon emissions.
"We're very excited to announce the launch of the Green Button in Oakville. By providing access to energy usage data in a standard and more user-friendly format, our customers will be able to choose the solution that best fits their needs to manage their electricity usage," added Oakville Hydro's President and CEO, Rob Lister.
Oakville Hydro customers can access the Green Button option through their upgraded MyOakvilleHydro Account portal.
Once the consumer accesses the option they will be able to download their data and analyze it to determine which energy plan is most beneficial, or they can agree to securely share their electricity usage with a Green Button-approved application which would analyze their usage to determine the best plan which will be available imminently.
Three electricity pricing plans
- Time-of-use (TOU) rate
- Tiered billing structure
- Ultra-low overnight price as of May 1, which all utilities are required to offer within the next six months.
"The launch of the Green Button is an example of the many collaborations that are taking place across the electricity industry. We want to thank London Hydro for their support in helping us launch the MyOakvilleHydro customer portal," commented Oakville Hydro EVP, Chief Energy Transformation Officer Scott Mudie.