More hydro relief coming July 1, Ontario Energy Board says

Hydro prices for households and small business will drop on July 1, fulfilling a promise of the Fair Hydro Act introduced by the Liberal government in March.

The Ontario Energy Board (OEB) says the decrease for the average user will be about 25 per cent from last summer. An eight per cent rebate, the equivalent of the provincial portion of the HST, has already been in place since January. And another cut came on May 1.

The board sets the per-kilowatt-hour prices every six months. Here's what the new hourly prices look like, according to the OEB:

Last summer, rates went up 2.5 per cent, something the OEB blamed on lower-than-expected electricity usage during the mild winter of 2015-16.