The Ontario government has indicated that it intends to move forward with the implementation of Green Button by electricity and natural gas distributors (distributors). Green Button grants households and businesses access to their utility data or authorizes the automatic, secure transfer of their data from their utility to applications or third parties.
Implementation is being considered for the fall with a proposed two-year phase-in period by distributors to allow alignment with planned information technology investments or other business priorities. The Ministry of Energy has asked the OEB to work with distributors, and other stakeholders as appropriate, to support the implementation of Green Button.
The OEB is therefore initiating a consultation which will focus on the need for additional guidance or direction that would assist distributors in order to ensure the timely, efficient and cost-effective implementation of Green Button.
In its letter of November 17, 2021, OEB staff stated that it would facilitate the establishment of a Green Button industry-led working group (GB IWG) as suggested by members of the OEB’s Green Button Task Force. The GB IWG is a forum for distributors and other interested stakeholders to address issues that arise as distributors go through the process of implementing Green Button during the two-year implementation period. To ensure interested parties are able to access information related to the work of the GB IWG, the OEB will host documents related to the GB IWG here.
