Peak Tracker

Class A Global Adjustment

Note: The Ontario Government has introduced an Industrial Conservation Initiative (ICI) peak hiatus for ICI participants to allow industrial and commercial businesses to focus on recovering from the impacts of COVID-19. Class A customers do not need to anticipate and reduce their electricity demand during peak hours in 2020-2021 as they work to return to full levels of operation. Instead, Class A customers will have their peak demand factor from the 2020-2021 period used to determine their global adjustment charges in 2020-2021. For additional information, refer to the Ministry’s news release.

The peak hiatus applies to Class A customers participating in ICI for the 2020-2021 period (i.e., July 1, 2020 – June 30, 2021). Accordingly, any Class B customer wishing to enter ICI in the 2021-2022 period would have their peak demand factor assessed based on their demand in peak hours during 2020-2021 (i.e., May 1, 2020 – April 30, 2021).

Customers who participate in the Industrial Conservation Initiative (ICI), pay Global Adjustment (GA) based on their percentage contribution to the top five peak hours of energy use in Ontario over a 12-month base period (May 1 to April 30). Customers participating in this initiative are referred to as Class A.

At the end of the 12-month base period (May 1 to April 30), the top five adjusted Allocated Quantity of Energy Withdrawn (AQEW) peak hours will be used to determine a customers consumption that will be used to calculate their GA allocation for the next 12-month adjustment period (July 1 to June 30). To find the top five adjusted AQEW peak hours for the last base period, and how to calculate your peak demand factor, visit Peak Demand Factor and GA.

The more accurately that a Class A customer can predict and reduce their consumption during the top five peak hours, the more they will be able to reduce their overall electricity charges. Read more about Class A Eligibility and the Industrial Conservation Initiative.

The IESO publishes tools and information below to help identify Ontario demand and the top peak hours of the current ICI base period. The graph below identifies whether the forecasted Ontario demand for the next 24 hours could be a top 10 Ontario demand peak during the current base period.

Peak Tracker Fact Sheet

Today’s Ontario Demand Forecast

Hour Ending (EST)	Forecast Ontario Demand (MW)

Hour Ending (EST)	Forecast Ontario Demand (MW)

Hour Ending (EST)	Forecast Ontario Demand (MW)

Hour Ending (EST)	Forecast Ontario Demand (MW)

Download XML

Forecasted Peak Ontario Demand for the Next Six Days

Real-time Ontario Demand is the best indicator of the peaks in the short term. The IESO publishes the daily forecasted Ontario peak demand and hour looking out over the next six days.

As of 7:16 PM EST February 28, 2021

Date	Hour Ending (EST)	Maximum Forecasted Ontario Demand (MW)	Link

Additional Adequacy Reports can be accessed from the IESO Reports Site.

Ontario Demand Peak Tracker

Top 10 Ontario demand peaks with coincident adjusted AQEW values to date

Real-time snapshot of the highest Ontario demand values with coincident adjusted AQEW values for the current base period that can be used to track potential ICI peak hours. The status column indicates whether the coincident adjusted AQEW value is Initial, Preliminary or Final.

Last updated February 28, 2021

Rank	Date	Hour Ending (EST)	Ontario Demand (MW)	Coincident Adjusted AQEW (MWh)	*Status (Initial, Prelim, Final)

*Initial data is published 7 calendar days after the trade date. Preliminary data is published 10 business days after the trade date. Final data is published 20 business days after the trade date. A blank column indicates adjusted AQEW values are not yet available.

The peak day and hours used for ICI settlement is based on the Final Adjusted AQEW values as listed in the Final Adjusted AQEW (ICI) Peak Tracker.

Current Status Adjusted AQEW Peak Tracker

Top 10 adjusted AQEW peaks to date

This table tracks indicative adjusted AQEW peaks based on Initial, Preliminary and Final data. Initial and Preliminary adjusted AQEW values are subject to change, and only final adjusted AQEW values are used to confirm ICI peaks.

Adjusted AQEW values include the total AQEW consumption during the hour and omit the net energy withdrawn by Beck PGS, Fort Frances, and for ancillary services.

Rank	Date	Hour Ending (EST)	Adjusted AQEW (MWh)	*Status (Initial, Prelim, Final)

Historical AQEW values, dated back to May 1, 2020 are available on the IESO Reports site.

Final Adjusted AQEW (ICI) Peak Tracker

Top 10 final adjusted AQEW peaks to date

ICI peak hours are confirmed using Final adjusted AQEW values. Class A customers are billed GA based on their contribution to the top 5 peak hours. These values are published 20 business days after the trade date and only the highest demand hour of the day is used.

Adjusted AQEW values include the total AQEW consumption during the hour and omit the net energy withdrawn by Beck PGS, Fort Frances, and for ancillary services.

Last updated February 28, 2021

Rank	Date	Hour Ending (EST)	Final Adjusted AQEW (MWh)

For historical peaks, download Ontario Demand Peaks.

Tools and information to help anticipate when these hours are more likely to occur

Time of year: Electricity demand is largely driven by the weather. Ontario is a summer peaking province, meaning the highest times of peak demand tend to be during hot, humid days and/or during a heatwave. Demand can also be high during the winter when the weather is very cold.
Time of day and days of the week: Demand peaks always occur on weekdays when businesses are in operation. The highest times of demand in a day vary between seasons. For example, winter tends to be in the early evening when electricity consumers across the province are turning lights on and making dinner. In the summer, demand tends to be higher in the early to mid-afternoon when air conditioners are turned up during the hottest time of the day.
Class A-specific tools on the IESO’s website: See the top ten real-time demand peaks, and forecast data for the hours and days ahead to track peaks in the charts above.
Adequacy Reports: These reports, available at http://reports.ieso.ca/public/Adequacy2/ provide Ontario's hourly electricity requirements for today, as well as the next 34 days and are updated to reflect changing conditions throughout the day.
Power Data: Follow current and projected demand in real-time at Power Data.

Energy management

Learn about reducing your peak demand through IESO's brochure, The Bottom Line on Energy Management: Making Ontario's Electricity Market Work for Your Business or by contacting your distributor. By reducing their energy use during system peaks, businesses will pay lower global adjustment costs next year.