100,000 to get 10 per cent hydro rebates

The "Summer Challenge" pilot program promised the rebate for any customer that reduced electricity consumption by at least 10 per cent between July 15 and Sept. 15, measured against the same period in 2005 but normalized to account for differences in weather and temperature between to the two years.

About 500,000 customers were automatically eligible for the program, meaning an estimated 20 per cent are expected to qualify for the rebate once the final tally is in later this fall.

Toronto Hydro said credits will begin appearing on customer bills over the next few months and that total credits will amount to roughly $2.5 million.

"I would deem this to be a resounding success," said David O'Brien, president and chief executive officer of Toronto Hydro, the country's largest municipal electric utility.

The utility, which reads about 100,000 electricity meters each week, said the results of all meters should be collected by late November, but the first 18,235 to qualify are already being notified. Credits started to appear on bills on Oct. 6.

O'Brien said many customers who have already qualified for the rebate blew past the 10 per cent reduction target. "The average is about 18 per cent, which is amazing."

Preliminary estimates indicate that Toronto Hydro customers collectively reduced their electricity consumption by about 58 million kilowatt-hours during the two-month period, roughly equivalent to taking 5,400 homes off the grid for a year.

The pilot is modelled on a similar program in California that has existed since 2001. It has helped the U.S. state dramatically lower its power demand during critical winter and summer consumption peaks.

Toronto Hydro, in its application to the Ontario Energy Board earlier this summer, originally hoped that one-third, or 165,000, of its eligible customers would reach the 10 per cent reduction target and qualify for the rebate.

Blair Peberdy, vice-president of marketing for Toronto Hydro, said that earlier goal was based on the California experience and, in hindsight, was overly ambitious given that the utility assembled the pilot program in a matter of weeks.

"We had a very short lead time to do advertising around this," Peberdy said. "I think if we took a longer run at it, we would see different numbers."

Another spokesperson for the utility said most electricity retailers offering fixed-price plans, such as Direct Energy, and premium green-energy plans, such as Bullfrog Power, have indicated they will honour the 10 per cent rebate for their customers as well.

Energy Minister Dwight Duncan said he is encouraged by the preliminary results of the Summer Challenge and other pilot conservation programs.

"I'm inclined to go province-wide with these types of programs, pending the final results," said Duncan, adding that the government plans to announce this fall which ones it will expand.

About 500 pilot programs run by 96 different distribution companies have been conducted across Ontario.

"I expect the results of these pilots in my hand any time over the next couple of weeks, and that will put us in a position to make an announcement shortly thereafter," Duncan said.

O'Brien said he'd like to see the Summer Challenge run for four months next year.