Residential electricity use up as overall consumption drops during pandemic

OTTAWA -

Residential electricity use is up in Ontario and Quebec since the start of the pandemic even as overall consumption rates have gone down, according to hydro utilities in the two provinces.

According to Hydro-Québec, the province's residential electricity consumption between March and July 2020 was 4.27 per cent higher than during the same time last year.  

In Ontario, meanwhile, the Independent Electricity System Operator said consumption increased by 15 per cent.

Despite the overall provincial increases, certain regions reported differences in residential usage: Hydro Ottawa, for example, said via email that residential electricity consumption in Canada's capital increased by approximately four per cent. 

In contrast, residents of Quebec's Outaouais region increased their consumption by seven per cent. 

The numbers aren't surprising for University of Ottawa economics professor Jean-Thomas Bernard, who pointed out that the region's largest industry is government services. 

"We know that governments have closed completely," he said. "So the government employees continue to work from home. This leads to a much higher use of computer equipment at home."

10 per cent overall drop in Ontario
Despite the rise in residential electricity use between mid-March and the end of July, energy companies say they're seeing consumption go down overall.

In Quebec, consumption across all sectors decreased by 5.04 per cent compared to the same period last year. Ontario saw usage plummet between 10 per cent and 12 per cent. 

The overall decrease is mainly due to stagnation brought on by shuttered or slowed economies, Bernard said, and that translates into energy companies bringing in less income from their commercial and industrial customers.

"Less income means less profit," he said. "Less profit means less dividends paid to the shareholder and, in this case, the shareholder is the government."

For customers concerned that the decrease in consumption might mean an increase in consumer rates, Bernard said that's unlikely. 

"We must take into account that we are currently in a period of surplus electricity," he said. "Export prices are still very low, because the demand is not there."

Hydro-Québec estimated that the drop in overall consumption has translated into a loss of approximately $155 million. 

However, both the gradual reopening of provincial economies and the impending fall and winter months mean "things are slowly returning to order," said Cendrix Bouchard, a spokesperson for Hydro-Québec.

"If we had a very cold winter and we had more consumption, that would perhaps compensate for all that in a certain way," Bouchard said.