The Industrial Conservation Initiative (ICI) is a great way for companies to reduce their Global Adjustment (GA) charges.
The base period (the 1-year term used to calculate a company’s peak demand factor) ended April 30, 2020. Companies can now compare what they saved (or would have saved) on class A versus class B to make the decision about what rate to choose for the next adjustment period: July 1, 2020 – June 30, 2021.
Any facility with an average peak demand above 1 MW is eligible to opt into the ICI program. Facilities with an average peak demand between >500 KW and <1000 KW service must also be classified under NAICS codes commencing with one of the following two digits “31”, “32”, “33” (manufacturing), or “1114” (greenhouse, nursery, floriculture production)
A facility’s Peak Demand Factor (PDF) is calculated by dividing its total five coincident peaks by the total five system peaks over the base period.
A company can usually lower their Global Adjustment charges by simply opting into class A. However by actively managing the five coincident peaks with peak prediction software, a company can save even more. For companies willing to make long term commitments they could reduce their GA by up to 100% with a Battery Energy Storage System or onsite generation.
Here is a free peak forecaster from the IESO:
http://www.ieso.ca/Sector-Participants/Settlements/Peak-Tracker
Because of COVID-19, the Ontario government is providing temporary relief on the cost of power. A portion of the Global Adjustment charge has been deferred for April, May and June 2020. Class A customers will receive a reduction in Global Adjustment charges proportionate with the reduction received each month by non-Regulated Price Plan Class B customers. The Class B rate will not exceed $115/MWh.
The Class A deferred amount for April is $303,010,758.48.
Source: www.ieso.ca/en/Sector-Participants/Settlements/Global-Adjustment-for-Class-B
