UNDERSTANDING DEMAND AND PRICE INFORMATION

The information contained on the Demand and Price Information page provides a basic overview of demand and price activity. Here's how to interpret the data:

Ontario Demand

This section shows how much electricity is sold through the market to meet the needs of Ontario consumers. This figure does not include exports of electricity, but does include imports.

The Ontario Demand figure shows the average hourly demand for electricity. We also provide projected demand figures - for the next hour and the expected peak for the day, showing when the demand for electricity will be highest.

The demand graph allows you to see demand patterns for yesterday, today and tomorrow. Actual demand data (the green line) shows the average demand within each hour that has passed. The projected demand (the blue line) shows the highest demand expected within that hour. As demand increases in the morning, highest demand occurs at the end of the hour; as it decreases in the early evening, highest demand occurs at the beginning of the hour. Note that projected demand figures can change throughout the day as the weather and other factors that affect demand also change.

Wholesale Prices

The Hourly Ontario Energy Price is the wholesale market price that fluctuates throughout the day. This is the price local utilities pay when purchasing electricity on behalf of their customers. Customers that pay the wholesale price and have an interval meter that can track how much electricity they use each hour may choose to pay this hourly price.

The running monthly and annual averages are weighted by the amount of electricity used throughout the province. These figures give a closer approximation of what the price will be for companies that pay the market rate but do not have an interval meter. These customers pay a wholesale rate weighted by the consumption patterns within their utility’s service area.

The price graph shows the actual Hourly Ontario Energy Price (the green line). Pre-dispatch data (the blue line) shows projected prices based on the prices offered by suppliers in the market. This figure can fluctuate as new offers are submitted and as demand changes.