Ontario’s large commercial customers will have somewhat more straightforward parameters for carving out their share of the global adjustment as they prepare for expected summer peak demand.

The 2021 versions of REALPAC's normalization methodologies for calculating energy- and water-use intensity address issues arising from the COVID-19 pandemic and lower occupant densities in office buildings.

For Class A consumers, cost-saving potential will be diminished even if they successfully curtail demand during the five peak hours since those peaks are expected to be lower than usual.

Commercial and industrial electricity customers will pay the differential above 11.5 cents per kilowatt-hour in added monthly increments beginning in January 2021.

Despite a steep drop in province-wide energy consumption due to COVID-19 triggered business shutdowns, many building owners/managers expect a more modest flow-through dip in operating costs.