The temporary discount on electricity pricing has been extended.
On March 24, the province announced the suspension of time-of-use pricing until Friday, May 8, to help Ontarians financially through the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Wednesday morning, the Ford Tories extended the relief measure until May 31.
Households, farms, and small businesses will continue to be charged off-peak rates of 10.1 c/kWh around the clock.
Bluewater Power President and CEO Janice McMichael-Dennis said she was hopeful the province would extend the discount.
She said with customers staying home during the pandemic, they've noticed some changes to energy use.
"We've always peaked around 5 p.m., and if you think about it, that's often the time that families would be getting home and turning on appliances for dinner or whatnot," she said. "We're finding that we're peaking now at around 11 a.m., upwards to about noon, and then we're still holding steady. But, we normally don't see electricity go up that quickly during what you would normally consider to be business hours."
In a news release Wednesday morning, Premier Doug Ford said many people are struggling to pay the bills as they do the right thing by staying at home.
"Although we are making progress in our fight against this COVID-19 outbreak, we are not out of the woods yet," said Ford. "The extension of this electricity rate relief will leave more money in people's pockets until businesses can start to reopen and people can get back to work."