Ontario’s Smart Meter Initiative

The provincial government has launched its Smart Meter Initiative, which requires that all Ontario consumers have a smart meter by December 31, 2010.

To help the province achieve its goals, the Ontario Energy Board has established a target for the installation of 800,000 smart electricity meters by December 31, 2007.

To solidify this plan, in late March 2006 the Ontario Government passed the Energy Conservation Responsibility Act. The Act allows for the individual smart metering, or smart sub-metering, of condominium units through third party companies such as Enbridge Electric. It also introduced the Residential Tenancy Act, to enable tenants to take accountability for their own electricity use.

Individual smart sub-metering will allow occupants in multi-residential buildings to better control their energy consumption, and thus their monthly bills.

As part of Ontario’s Smart Meter Initiative, all smart sub-meterers are now required to be licensed by the Ontario Energy Board.   Enbridge Electric has applied for a license as required by the legislation.