Other Charges

Some of the other charges that may appear on Hydro Ottawa’s bill are explained below.

New accounts are subject to an Account Set-up Charge of $28.00. This charge also applies when a customer moves from one address to another.

A Security Deposit may be applied to an account as a condition of service for business customers.

An administrative charge of $6.00 applies when a customer requests a duplicate invoice of a paper bill that they have already received or if a customer requests a printed version of their per year of billing or reading history.

An Arrears Certificate Charge of $17.00 (plus applicable credit agency costs) covers the cost of investigating whether an outstanding balance exists.

An Easement Certificate Charge for Unregistered Easements of $28.00 covers the costs of researching and presenting the findings to the customer.

To avoid interest charges, Hydro Ottawa must receive a customer’s payment on or before the Due Date on their bill. Sufficient time must be allowed for a payment to be received and processed by Hydro Ottawa, taking into account the time required for payment to be transferred from a financial institution or to be delivered by mail.

An unpaid balance after the due date is subject to a Late Payment Charge of 1.50% per month, compounded monthly (19.56% per year).

A Returned Payment Charge of $28.00 plus any bank charges is applied when cheques are returned for non-sufficient funds (NSF) on an account.

A Special Billing Service Charge of $136.00 per hour (billed in 15 minute increments with a minimum charge of one hour) is applied when customers request historical billing information. This does not include duplicate invoices and arrears certificates, which have a specific rate.

If a customer requests that a meter be investigated and the billing is determined to be correct, a High Bill Investigation Charge of $262.00 is applied.  If there is a problem with the meter the customer is not charged.

A Specific Charge for Access to the Power Poles (with the exception of wireless attachments) is applied at $37.78 per pole on an annual basis.

Reconnection Charges vary and are based on the type of electrical service and time of day*. For customer initiated disconnections, referred to as Isolation/Re-energization, please see Section 2.2.2 of Hydro Ottawa’s Conditions of Service. 

Until November 1, 2025, customers who own transformers that step down from Hydro Ottawa’s primary supply voltage to the utilization voltage may receive a Transformer Ownership Credit (TOC) per kW of billing demand of $0.45 for transformation from less than 115 kV. For more information, please refer to Section 2.5.5.4 of Hydro Ottawa’s Conditions of Service.

Where dry core transformers are located after the primary transformers and the metering is on the customer’s side of the dry core transformers, a Drycore Transformer Energy Loss Charge (cost of power and delivery charge) for unmetered losses applies. This charge is based on the size of the dry core transformer.

Customers with interval meters whose dedicated phone lines have become defective will be notified by Hydro Ottawa that they have seven (7) business days to make necessary repairs. If repairs are not made an Interval Meter – Field Read Charge of $348.00 per visit is applied to the customer’s bill.

For customers with load displacement generators > 500 kW a variable Standby Charge applies per kW of contracted demand for a month where standby power is not provided.

Charges for MicroFIT, FIT and Net Metering Generators

* Our business hours are Monday to Friday (excluding statutory holidays) from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

All of the above charges are effective January 1, 2024 and subject to HST.