We’re continuing to expand natural gas to homes and communities across Ontario. Access to reliable, affordable natural gas lowers energy bills for families, creates new opportunities for municipalities and helps Ontario businesses become more competitive, grow and create jobs.
In many rural areas, obtaining natural gas service can be economically challenging given the increased costs that results from the longer distance to existing pipelines and the smaller number of customers served.
For qualifying projects, we’re offering residents or businesses looking to obtain gas service, an expansion surcharge1 which eliminates any upfront cost to customers and instead spreads the charge over a maximum of 40 years.
In situations where the cost to attach to the Enbridge Gas system is not economically feasible at the regular Ontario Energy Board (OEB) approved rates, the expansion surcharge is applied in addition to regular OEB approved rates for the applicable rate class. The Ontario Energy Board, an independent regulator, reviews and approves all our decisions for natural gas expansion into new communities, including all customer charges.
An expansion surcharge of $0.23 per cubic meter (m3) of natural gas used will apply to qualifying projects below involving the extension of natural gas pipeline and is applied in addition to regular rates. For example, if a residential home used 500 m3 of natural gas per month this charge would be $0.23m3 x 199m3 = $45.77/month.
The expansion surcharge is applied only for the number of years required to make the project economically feasible, up to a maximum of 40 years. The expansion surcharge term will vary depending on various factors, such as the length of pipe needed for the project to connect to the nearest existing pipeline, and the number of customers to be served by the new section of pipeline.
See the table below to determine if an expansion surcharge applies in your area.
| Expansion areas | Start date | Remainder of term |
|---|---|---|
| No areas at this time |
1Two surcharges (System Expansion Surcharge or SES, and Temporary Connection Surcharge or TCS) are referenced in the Enbridge Gas Rate Handbook for the EGD rate zone and the rate schedules for the Union rate zones, both at $0.23/m3. The SES is applicable to projects with 50 or more potential customers and the TCS is applicable to projects with less than 50 potential customers. Enbridge Gas’s reporting obligations to the OEB depends upon the type of project. Because the customer conditions for these surcharges are the same, Enbridge Gas refers to them both as an Expansion Surcharge.
