COVID-19

As an essential workplace, we're continuing with critical work in order to continue safely powering our city’s homes and businesses – today, tomorrow and in the months ahead.

As a result, you may see our crews continuing to work in your community. During this time, our crews will practise physical distancing whenever possible. However, sometimes the nature of their work will require them to work as a team. All of our crews are trained to perform safety assessments before completing any work in order to help them identify potential hazards, including those related to COVID-19.

Across all of our work, we're committed to protecting both our front-line workers and the communities we serve while we work to safely power our city.

Supporting CaféTO and keeping the public safe

We’re working closely with the City of Toronto to support its CaféTO initiative. For residents who may be dining on city streets or sidewalks this summer, please be mindful that Toronto Hydro has electrical equipment located above and below ground throughout the city. To help ensure your safety, please remember to keep a safe distance from this equipment.

Tips to stay safe around electrical equipment

We've evaluated our upcoming work to determine how we can adapt to the unprecedented circumstances that we're facing. While we've done our best to postpone work where possible, we're moving forward with critical projects that are needed to help maintain the safety and reliability of the grid.

When completing this critical work, we'll be taking all steps possible to minimize inconvenience to customers, including proactively reaching out to customers that are affected.

Safety reminder: If you come across one of our crews working in your community, please practise physical distancing and avoid approaching them directly in order to ensure your safety and theirs.

COVID-19 Recovery Rate for Time-of-Use customers

Effective June 1, 2020, the Government of Ontario announced the COVID-19 Recovery Rate for customers who pay Time-of-Use (TOU) electricity rates. Residential and small business customers paying TOU rates will be charged a fixed rate of 12.8 ¢/kWh for all electricity usage, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The government has extended this rate relief to TOU customers until October 31, 2020.

Learn more about the rate change

Residential rate change

On March 1, 2020, Toronto Hydro reduced the distribution portion of the Delivery Charge on your bill by 17.4%. As a result, a typical residential customer consuming 750 kilowatt-hours (kWh) experienced an average decrease of $5.60 on their total monthly bill, including HST and the Ontario Electricity Rebate (OER). We're pleased that during this difficult time, our customers continue to receive the savings associated with this reduction in rates.

Learn more about the rate change

Global Adjustment charges

To provide support during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ontario government announced on May 1 that it’s deferring a portion of Global Adjustment (GA) charges for industrial and commercial electricity consumers that don’t participate in the Regulated Price Plan (RPP). The relief is to be in place from April to June 2020 (subject to necessary extensions and approvals to implement this initiative).

Read the government's announcement

We know the COVID-19 pandemic is putting economic stress on families and businesses, and we’re committed to helping our customers manage their electricity bills during this challenging time. As a result, we're working with customers who may need greater flexibility on payment options at this time.

Our Customer Care team is here to help with billing concerns and payment options. To discuss your bill and payment needs in more detail, please call us directly at 416-542-8000. We strongly encourage those who are able to continue to pay their bills on time in order to help us maintain service levels during this challenging time.

Paperless billing

If you have concerns regarding handling your paper bill, we encourage customers to sign up for eBills using one of the following options:

• Sign up for eBills — residential customers
• Sign up for eBills — business customers

COVID-19 Energy Assistance Program (CEAP)

The Government of Ontario has introduced the COVID-19 Energy Assistance Program (CEAP) to support residential customers struggling to pay their electricity bills as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. CEAP provides a one-time, on-bill credit to eligible customers in need of financial assistance during this time.

Learn more and apply for CEAP

COVID-19 Energy Assistance Program for Small Business (CEAP-SB)

The Government of Ontario has also committed to providing $8 million through the COVID-19 Energy Assistance Program for Small Business (CEAP-SB) to support small business customers that are struggling to pay their electricity bills as a result of COVID-19. CEAP-SB launches on August 31, 2020. More information will be provided soon.

Additional support for businesses

The federal and provincial governments have announced separate measures to provide additional financial support to businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic:

• Federal government support
• Provincial government support

We've extended the suspension of electricity disconnections from July 31 to August 31, 2020. This extension provides additional time for customers in arrears to contact us and make arrangements for payment on their accounts without worrying about being without electricity during this time.

If you’re struggling to pay your bill due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we’re providing greater payment flexibility on arrears to better address your specific needs. To discuss your bill and payment options in more detail, please call our Customer Care team at 416-542-8000, Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

With many of our customers spending more time at home, we recognize that energy consumption habits may change. In addition to the provincial government's temporary changes to Time-of-Use rates, we also have tips and resources that may help customers save energy and money at home during this time.

Residential tips and resources

Fraudsters are trying to take advantage of electricity consumers during the COVID-19 pandemic by threatening to disconnect their power.

Please note that we've suspended electricity disconnections until August 31, 2020. Moreover, we never threaten to disconnect power immediately and will never ask a customer to call a 1-800 number to make a payment.

Protect yourself against fraud