TORONTO – Are you hard hit by energy bills?
Beginning on Monday, July 13, 2020, residential energy customers can apply for financial support under the COVID-19 Energy Assistance Program (CEAP) if they meet the eligibility criteria for the program. CEAP provides a one time, on-bill credit to help eligible residential customers affected by COVID-19 catch up on their energy bills.
With $9 million in funding from the Ontario government, CEAP is being delivered directly by electricity and natural gas utilities as well as unit sub-meter providers (USMPs), further to rules laid out by the Ontario Energy Board.
The on-bill credit amount for electricity customers covers half of the electricity charges overdue on the date of the application, up to a maximum of $115. In the case of natural gas customers, the on-bill credit covers half of the natural gas charges overdue on the date of application, up to a maximum of $80. A higher level of assistance is available for electricity customers whose homes are mainly electrically heated or who rely on certain in-home medical devices, and for natural gas customers in certain regions of the Province.
Setting the level of support at 50 percent of overdue amounts for individual customers in this way will assist in achieving the government’s objective of making CEAP available to help the most people affected financially by the COVID-19 emergency. Eligible residential customers can receive a CEAP credit once for electricity and once for natural gas.
Customers can apply for CEAP through their utility or USMP. The application form will be available on their websites or on request, and each may have a unique approach for application in-take.
CEAP funding is limited, and submitting an application for CEAP does not guarantee funding. Utilities and USMPs are expected to process applications in the order in which they are received, and they will stop delivering CEAP once their allocated share of CEAP funding runs out.
More information about the program including eligibility requirements is available at oeb.ca/ceap.
