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Peak power becoming more pricey – Metro US

Peak power becoming more pricey

Dining fashionably late — really late — will get cheaper as Toronto Hydro moves to a new pricing system that charges residents different rates depending on when they use electricity.

The cheapest rates? Weekends, holidays and the overnight period from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. Most expensive? At least in summer, during the heat of the day, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The high peak rates are intended to prompt consumers to use power-hungry appliances as little as possible during peak demand times.

On very hot and very cold days, demand can outstrip supply, causing brownouts and blackouts.

Expensive generating stations must be built to cover these short periods — and sit idle most of the year.

The 10,000 randomly selected customers will go on time-of-use rates starting June 1. Customers will be notified before the switch.