How the Ontario ULO Rate Plan Can Save You $1,500/Year With a Home Battery

Understanding Ontario's ULO Electricity Rate Plan

Ontario offers residential electricity customers three pricing plans: Time-of-Use (TOU), Tiered, and Ultra-Low Overnight (ULO). The ULO plan was specifically designed for homes with electric vehicles or battery storage systems that can shift their consumption to off-peak hours.

Here are the current 2026 ULO rates as set by the Ontario Energy Board (OEB), effective November 1, 2025:

Source: Ontario Energy Board, November 2025 regulated price plan rates.

The Battery Arbitrage Opportunity: A 10x Rate Difference

The spread between the overnight rate (3.9¢) and the weekday peak rate (39.1¢) is a staggering 35.2¢ per kilowatt-hour. Every unit of electricity your battery absorbs at night and releases during the 4–9 PM window effectively saves you 35.2¢.

Here's how that translates to annual savings for a typical Muskoka or Simcoe County home:

Why ULO Is Especially Valuable in Muskoka & Simcoe County

Hydro bills in rural Muskoka and Simcoe County tend to be higher than urban Ontario for several reasons: electric heating is more common in areas without natural gas infrastructure, older housing stock is often less energy-efficient, and long winters mean high heating loads.

This makes the ULO arbitrage even more valuable. A home in Huntsville or Bracebridge that runs electric baseboard heating, for example, may be cycling 15–20 kWh through its battery daily in winter — pushing annual hydro savings well above $1,500.

Additionally, ULO weekends are charged at just 9.8¢/kWh all day — the same as TOU off-peak on weekdays. This is significantly cheaper than standard TOU for families who use electricity heavily on weekends.

How to Switch to the ULO Rate Plan

ULO is available through most Ontario local distribution companies (LDCs) including:

• Hydro One (serves most of Muskoka District and rural Simcoe County)
• Barrie Hydro / PowerStream (Barrie, Innisfil, Bradford area)
• Orillia Power Distribution
• Collingwood Utility Services

To switch, contact your local utility and request the ULO rate plan. They will confirm eligibility — most utilities require a smart meter to be installed (which is standard for homes built after 2010 and has been retrofitted to most older homes across Ontario).

Switching to ULO without a battery is possible but not recommended — you'd be exposed to the high 39.1¢ on-peak rate without the ability to discharge stored energy to offset it. The plan is designed to work with a battery.

Adding Solar to the Equation

When you add solar panels to a battery system on ULO, your savings stack in two ways:

1. Solar charges your battery during the day — storing energy at effectively zero marginal cost
2. Your battery discharges at peak (4–9 PM) — displacing 39.1¢/kWh grid power with free solar energy

In summer months (May–September), a properly sized solar system in Muskoka or Simcoe County can generate 30–40 kWh per day on a good sun day — enough to fully charge a 10–15 kWh battery and power your home's daytime loads simultaneously. This dramatically increases the return on investment compared to a standalone battery.

Is the ULO Plan Right for Your Home?

ULO is an excellent fit if:

• You have or are installing a home battery system
• You can shift most of your major electricity loads (dishwasher, laundry, EV charging) to overnight hours
• You have electric heating or cooling that can be pre-conditioned overnight

ULO is less ideal if you have high daytime electricity needs that cannot be shifted — for example, if you work from home and run high-powered equipment during the weekday 4–9 PM window without a battery to offset it.