Summary#

Bill 213, the Affordable Home Heating Act, 2024, would create a new Act and amend the Ontario Energy Board Act, 1998. Its stated goal is to provide plans for rate assistance with home heating costs; the bill does not itself set out who will receive assistance or how much they will get.

• The Minister of Energy must develop a strategy for low-income consumers who heat their homes with fuels other than electricity or gas. It must cover emergency and ongoing assistance and identify eligible consumers or classes of consumers.
• The Ontario Energy Board must develop and submit a gas rate assistance action plan. It must set out the proposed assistance amount, eligible consumers, an implementation strategy, and whether assistance should be added to the Ontario Electricity Support Program.
• The Minister must publish the gas plan, consult the public, make any necessary revisions after consultation, and ensure the revised plan is implemented by January 1, 2025.
• The Minister must publish the alternative-fuel strategy within one month after developing it. Both plans are subject to deadlines that start when the relevant part of the bill comes into force.
• The bill does not set a specific benefit amount or create an express individual right to receive assistance.

What it means for you#

• Low-income households using heating fuels other than electricity or gas: The Minister must plan for emergency and ongoing rate assistance and identify who would qualify. The bill does not specify the fuels covered, the eligibility rules, or the assistance amount.
• Households that heat with gas: The Board must prepare a plan for assistance, and the Minister must ensure that plan is implemented by the stated deadline. The bill does not itself say which households qualify or how the assistance will be delivered.
• People receiving electricity support: The gas plan must assess whether gas assistance should be incorporated into the Ontario Electricity Support Program. The bill does not require that it be incorporated.
• The Minister and Ontario Energy Board: They would have duties to develop plans; the Minister would also have duties to publish, consult, revise where necessary, and ensure implementation.
• Other households: The bill does not directly change electricity rates, gas rates, or heating-fuel prices.

Money#

No cost information is in the available material.

• The bill requires work by the Minister and the Ontario Energy Board, including planning, publication and public consultation; no cost estimate or funding source is specified.
• The gas plan must state the amount of assistance, but the bill does not set that amount.
• The bill requires the gas action plan to be implemented, but does not state the total cost or how assistance would be funded.

What is unclear#

• The bill does not define “low-income,” “eligible consumers,” “rate assistance,” or which non-electricity, non-gas fuels count.
• It does not specify the amount or form of assistance, how people would apply, how decisions would be made, or whether there would be reviews or appeals.
• It does not explain how the Minister would ensure the gas plan is implemented, or what happens if the January 1, 2025 deadline is missed.
• It does not explain how the proposed assistance would interact with existing programs, beyond requiring an assessment of whether gas assistance should be added to the Ontario Electricity Support Program.
• The bill text provided does not include the parent Ontario Energy Board Act, 1998, so the existing rules and programs could not be verified against current law.

Case for#

• The bill appears intended to address the risk that heating costs can contribute to poverty, including for people who do not heat with electricity or gas.
• Requiring plans for both emergency and ongoing assistance could address different kinds of need.
• Requiring the gas plan to state amounts, eligibility and an implementation strategy could make key choices visible before assistance is put in place.
• Public consultation could give people a chance to comment on the gas plan before it is revised.

Case against#

• The bill requires plans but does not guarantee a particular amount of assistance or an individual’s eligibility.
• The amounts, eligibility rules and delivery methods are left for later decisions, so the scale and reach of support remain unknown.
• The bill does not specify funding for the assistance or explain how the Minister would ensure the gas plan is implemented.
• The fixed January 1, 2025 implementation deadline may be difficult to meet depending on when the bill comes into force; the text does not say what happens if it is missed.