PowerStream customers whose electricity usage is measured by a smart meter and who have been migrated to time-of-use (TOU) rates can now access their smart meter consumption online, through the utility’s new Smart Meter Hydro Consumption inquiry feature. This web-based, interactive, feature was designed to assist customers in understanding and managing their electricity consumption patterns and usage in the new TOU pricing environment.

Located in the secure, My Account Information section of the PowerStream website, the Smart Meter Hydro Consumption inquiry can display three different bar chart functions – daily usage, hourly usage and price comparison – for TOU customers who sign up to get their account information online at www.powerstream.ca.

Colour-coded to correspond with off-peak, mid-peak and on-peak TOU price periods, the daily usage chart opens automatically to the past thirty days and can display up to ninety days of consumption at one time. The hourly usage chart displays hourly data for a single day while the price comparison tool allows the user to enter a price offering from an electricity retailer in order to
compare it with current TOU rates.

“A smart meter, combined with this new interactive online feature now available through our website, provides each of our customers with another energy management tool to help them better manage their electricity costs,” explained Ed Chatten, Senior Vice President, Executive Support and Metering at PowerStream. “After consuming electricity on one day, by the following
day customers can now see graphic representations of how much and when electricity was used previously.”

PowerStream began migrating customers in the Aurora area onto TOU rates in August of this year. By the end of this month, all residential customers in Aurora with a smart meter are scheduled to be on TOU rates. Migration of Richmond Hill residential customers is planned to start in February 2010 followed by Markham customers in May. The migration of Vaughan customers to TOU rates is scheduled to begin in October 2010 with the changeover for PowerStream customers in Barrie and Simcoe County commencing a month later.

Currently, almost three million smart meters have been installed in Ontario and approximately 200,000 customers switched to TOU rates. More smart meters are scheduled to be installed thoughout the province in 2010 and an estimated 3.6 million residential and small business electricity customers are expected to be on TOU rates by June 2011.