Summary#

Bill 214, the Affordable Energy Act, 2024, is enacted as Ontario law. It amends the Electricity Act, 1998, the Ontario Energy Board Act, 1998 and the Energy Consumer Protection Act, 2010, and makes a related amendment to the Fixing the Hydro Mess Act, 2019. Its stated goal is to support an affordable, reliable energy system and promote electrification while reducing emissions; the bill does not guarantee those results.

• The Energy Minister may issue an integrated energy plan, with approval from the Lieutenant Governor in Council (the provincial cabinet). Before issuing one, the Minister must consult selected groups and consider what they say. The bill replaces long-term energy plans with integrated plans and removes the requirement for the IESO and Ontario Energy Board to submit implementation plans.
• The Minister may issue approved directives to the IESO and the Board about implementing a plan. The IESO’s objects now include promoting electrification and energy efficiency measures aimed at reducing Ontario’s overall emissions.
• Cabinet may make regulations that set specified cost-allocation and cost-recovery rules for electricity distribution and transmission systems and connections. It may also exempt people or things from relevant code provisions and set different rules for them. The Board and its chief executive officer cannot change or override specified code amendments while the regulation is in force.
• Electricity distribution and retail for electric-vehicle charging are generally excluded from three energy laws, subject to regulations that may apply those laws again. The Electricity Act’s electrical-safety rules still apply.

What it means for you#

• Energy consumers and the public: A plan may address affordability, reliability, infrastructure, energy resources, Indigenous reconciliation and public engagement. The Minister must publish consultation notices and the plan. The plan’s goals are not guaranteed results.
• Electric-vehicle drivers and charging providers: The three laws generally do not apply to electricity distribution or retail for vehicle charging, unless regulations say otherwise. The exemption is deemed to have applied before the Act received Royal Assent, but electrical-safety rules under the Electricity Act still apply. The bill does not itself set prices or create a charging program.
• Electricity customers and system operators: Cabinet can set or change rules about who bears costs for building, expanding or reinforcing distribution and transmission systems, and connections to them. The bill itself does not specify who will pay what.
• Indigenous communities and other groups consulted: The Minister must consult groups the Minister considers appropriate before issuing a plan and consider the results. The bill does not guarantee a particular group’s inclusion or give it decision-making power.

Money#

No cost estimate is provided in the available material.

• The bill makes no appropriation and sets no new tax, fee or fine.
• Required consultations, publications and code updates may have administrative costs, but no amount is stated.
• Future regulations could change how infrastructure costs are allocated or recovered. The financial effects depend on those regulations.

What is unclear#

• The Minister may issue a plan, but the bill does not set a deadline for the first plan or require that one be issued.
• The bill does not specify how the Minister will choose whom to consult, or how input will affect the plan beyond requiring it to be considered.
• The details and effects of future regulations on electricity-system costs and electric-vehicle charging are not set out.
• The bill allows regulations to modify the definitions of electric vehicle, charging and charging station, but does not set the limits of those changes.
• The supplied material does not include the full parent Acts, so the exact current rules being replaced or how the changes interact with other existing rules could not be verified.

Case for#

• An integrated plan can address electricity alongside other energy sources, infrastructure, costs, reliability and economic growth.
• Required consultation and public posting can give people and communities a chance to provide input and see the plan and some of its supporting information.
• Cabinet-set cost rules could allow the province to address specific disputes or needs involving the cost of system construction and connections.
• Excluding electric-vehicle charging from the default application of the three laws could allow rules to be tailored to that activity; regulations can apply those laws again.

Case against#

• The Minister is not required to issue a plan, and the bill does not require particular affordability, reliability or emissions outcomes.
• Cabinet can set code rules that the Board and its chief executive officer cannot modify while the regulation is in force, reducing their ability to adjust those rules through the code process.
• Electric-vehicle charging is outside the three laws by default. The bill does not say which consumer or regulatory protections will apply unless regulations do so.
• The bill does not specify how future cost-allocation rules will affect customers, businesses or system operators, making their financial impact hard to judge.