EPCOR Natural Gas Limited Partnership (EPCOR Natural Gas) has applied to the Ontario Energy Board (OEB) to change the natural gas rates in its Southern Bruce service territory, effective January 1, 2027, based on an OEB-approved formula that is tied to inflation and other factors intended to promote efficiency.
EPCOR Natural Gas has also applied for approval to dispose of the balances in certain deferral and variance accounts, including an account for certain capital costs and revenue impacts arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. The balance in this account is a debit of approximately $12.2 million. Disposing the debit in this account will increase customer bills. To help manage the bill impacts for its customers, EPCOR has proposed a mitigated rate option in addition to the standard unmitigated rate option. The mitigated option would result in costs being recovered from customers over a longer period of time.
If the entire application is approved as proposed, the annual natural gas bill of a typical residential customer and a typical commercial customer in the Southern Bruce service territory would increase by the following approximate amounts, depending on whether the application is approved with the unmitigated or mitigated option:
| Rate Class | Mitigated Annual Bill Change | Unmitigated Annual Bill Change |
|---|---|---|
| R1 – Residential customers | $186.03 per year | $71.13 per year |
| R1 – Small Commercial customers | $444.27 per year | $169.65 per year |
Type: Rates
This application will be heard using the Complex Incentive Rate-setting Mechanism performance standard (pdf). View an expanded timeline (pdf) of the procedural steps for this Rates application.
Find out more about OEB Performance Standards for Processing Applications and use the Application Planning Tool to assist you with an estimate of the milestones in this proceeding.
See the application notice
See the application
See all documents related to this application
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Participate
There are three ways to participate in the OEB hearing process: as an Intervenor, submitting a Letter of Comment or to Follow a Proceeding.
This table illustrates the different levels of participation. Find out more about participating in an OEB hearing, including becoming an intervenor.
| Participation Activities | Intervenor | Letter of Comment | Follow a Proceeding |
|---|---|---|---|
| Receive OEB-issued documents by email |  |  | |
| Submit a Letter of Comment | | | |
| Listen to live broadcast of the oral hearing | | | |
| Participate in oral hearing | | | |
| Present Evidence | | | |
| Respond to questions about evidence | | | |
| Ask other parties to the proceeding questions | | | |
| Provide argument | | | |
Submit a letter of comment
You can submit a letter of comment that will be considered by the panel deciding the application. Unless the notice states otherwise, your letter of comment will be accepted until the record of the proceeding is closed (which usually occurs with the filing of the applicant’s final reply argument). However, you are encouraged to submit your letter as early in the process as you can. Depending on timing of receipt of letters of comment, the applicant will typically provide a respond to the issues raised in those letters. Your letter will be provided directly to the panel of Commissioners who will be deciding whether the application is approved. The panel will consider your comments in reaching their decision. The panel will only be able to consider comments which relate to issues which are within the authority of the OEB and relevant to the issues being considered by the panel.
More about commenting and privacy
All letters of comment sent to the OEB are placed on the public record. This means the letters will be placed on our website. Before the letter of comment is placed on the public record, personal contact information contained in the address, phone number, and email address fields of this form is removed. The individual's name and the content of the letter will become part of the public record.
If you would like a response from the applicant, please send a copy of your letter directly to the applicant, including your personal contact information. The OEB removes your personal contact information from your letter for privacy reasons before it is posted to our website.