<html><body><p>Hi Paul<br /><br />Very interesting. I guess the short line is that there is less inlinination to push TOU tariff because of the prevalence of electric space heating thus making it easier to dissolve the issue in the murk. <br /><br />I submit that doesn't alter the fact that electric water heating is still an issue and can be addressed. Indeed it is a bigger issue in Quebec than here, and happens all year round, while I guess that, even in Quebec, the strip heating is seasonal. Locally, ETS is hardly ever used and thus the off-peak tariff is/was for water heaters, and water heaters only. There is a minimum size for the tank. In other parfts of the country, in-slab ETS is used and enjoys off peak tariff.<br /><br />I imagine that when Hydro gets round to installing smart metering, there will be the tariffs to go with it. I can't see the point of smart metering without variable tariff. And the residential distribution boards throughout the province will suddenly burst into bloom with new timer inserts.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></p>
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<br />----- Original Message -----<br /><div style="width:100%;background:rgb(228,228,228);">
<div style="font-weight:bold;">From:</div> "Green Building" @lists.bioenergylists.org></div>
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Hi Nick,<br /><br />
Hydro-Québec launched a TOU pilot project back in 2008 (see: <br />
http://www.hydroquebec.com/rates/heurejuste/pop-heure-juste.html) and as <br />
I understand it the Régie de l’énergie determined that TOU rates would <br />
be of limited benefit to the utility (the average reduction in demand <br />
during the peak period was a modest 0.3 kW per participant) and that <br />
they would unfairly burden ratepayers. The biggest hurdle is that the <br />
vast majority of homes in this province are heated electrically, and <br />
typically with baseboard strips that cannot be shut-off/dialed-back for <br />
an extended period of time without negatively impacting personal <br />
comfort. The only practical way to shift this load off-peak would be <br />
through the installation of ETS heaters and that's a prohibitively <br />
costly proposition for most home owners.<br /><br />
By 2017, H-Q will have converted all residential account holders to <br />
"smart" meters, so it's conceivable that TOU rates could follow at some <br />
future date, but the likelihood of that happening any time soon is remote.<br /><br /><br /></blockquote></body></html>