Ontario is taking 10 per cent off monthly electricity bills for families, farms and businesses to help them manage rising electricity prices for the next five years. 

The Ontario Clean Energy Benefit (OCEB) will help more than four million Ontarians, and more than 400,000 small businesses, farms and others through these lean times, effective January 1, 2011.

In order to have a clean, modern and reliable electricity system that includes renewables and creates jobs, the government has made significant investments. To help Ontarians with the costs of turning on more clean power and turning off dirty smog-polluting coal plants, the province is also:

• Moving the Time-of-Use off-peak period for electricity to 7 p.m., which will provide an additional 10 hours every week in the lowest cost period, starting May 1, 2011
• Helping seniors and low- and middle-income Ontarians through a proposed expansion to the Ontario Energy and Property Tax Credit, providing up to $900 back, and up to $1,025 for eligible seniors
• Helping more than 250,000 northern families get more money in their pockets through the Northern Ontario Energy Credit, which provides single Ontarians age 18 and older with a credit of up to $130, and families, including single parents, with up to $200 
• Helping large industrials and manufacturers conserve energy, save on electricity costs and increase their competitiveness through the Industrial Conservation Initiative, starting in January 2011.

These measures build on the government’s Open Ontario plan to create new jobs, boost economic growth and protect the progress Ontario families have made in their schools and hospitals.