Ontario’s Electric & Natural Gas Utilities to Provide Green Button Energy Data to Customers

February 2, 2022

in Policy Watch,

Ontario’s Electricity and Natural Gas Utilities Provincewide to Provide Green Button Energy Data to Customers

On 01 November, the government of Ontario, Canada announced it is requiring nearly all regulated electricity and natural gas utilities provincewide to provide standards-based Green Button energy data to their customers within twenty-four months, by November 2023. Ontario's Green Button requirement went into effect on 01 November, following the passage of Ontario Regulation 633/21: Energy Data, which was filed on 02 September, 2021. The regulation applies to 60+ utilities, and covers approximately 5 million electric meters and approximately 3.5 million gas meters.

Ontario is the first province to empower energy consumers with easy, digital access to Green Button -standardized energy data and the ability to authorize to securely share those data with third-parties of their choosing, helping Ontarians to make informed decisions about their energy consumption and manage their energy costs.

Ontario’s Minister of Energy, Todd Smith, made the announcement at GBA member London Hydro’s Green Button Innovation Centre in London, Ontario, where he was joined by the Mayor of London, Ed Holder; the CEO of London Hydro, Vinay Sharma along with members of its Board; and representatives from Enbridge Gas; Festival Hydro; ENWIN Utilities; Oakville Hydro; University of Western Ontario; Ontario’s Electricity Distributors Association (EDA); and the Atmospheric Fund, among others. Among the benefits of utility customer access to standardized energy data, Minister Smith noted studies have found that easy access to Green Button -standardized energy data can help consumers make informed decisions and achieve energy savings of up to 18 percent. Mayor Holder noted that Green Button platforms will help utilities and their customers gain the benefits from the investment in smart meters, as well as help utilities to become more open by unlocking the value of these data. Sarah Van Der Paelt of GBA member Enbridge Gas shared the utility's support of Green Button and highlighted a current innovative pilot project—a hybrid heating system with smart controls—that leverages Green Button data provided by London Hydro.

London Hydro has offered its customers access to their standards-based Green Button energy data since 2016. Of Ontario's Green Button regulation, London Hydro CEO Vinay Sharma commented, “The Green Button standard ushers utilities into the modern technology era of open utilities, increased customer choice, and uniform energy management services for the benefit of customers." He continued, "Indeed, Green Button will manifest the true benefits of smart meter systems for customers.” Following the speakers' talks, Minister Smith and Syed Mir, CIO of London Hydro and Chair of the GBA toured the Green Button Innovation Centre to discuss Green Button-enabled customer successes and innovative grid-edge solutions in-development. Hear the Minister's announcement at London Hydro’s Green Button Innovation Centre.

Ontario's new regulation requires Ontario utilities' Green Button Connect My Data implementations to be tested and Certified for compliance to the standard. Read the GBA’s announcement for additional details.