Today Greg Rickford, Minister of Energy, Northern Development and Mines, issued an announcement on electricity rates.
The Ontario government will introduce a fixed electricity price, known as the COVID-19 Recovery Rate, of 12.8 cents per kWh, to be in place from June 1 through October 31, 2020. It will be automatically applied to all time-of-use customers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

The Minister's office responded to the Owen Sound Hub's enquiry about the 26.7% increase by saying that this will replace the emergency rate, where the government invested over $175M from March 24 to May 31 to hold electricity rates to the off-peak, below market-value price of 10.1c/kWh.

The COVID-19 Recovery Rate of 12.8 c/kWh rate is based on the average electricity supply cost, calculated by the Ontario Energy Board as of November 1, 2019, and as such it would not require subsidies from government to support it.

The Minister's office also stated that the COVID-19 Recovery Rate "will free up funding for other government priorities, like health care, during the COVID-19 outbreak, while providing consumers enhanced predictability compared to time-of-use.

The provincial government continues to reduce bills by 31.8% through the Ontario Electricity Rebate, investing $5.6 billion annually."

More information about the new rate will be provided by the Premier in his June 1 briefing.

source: Minister of Energy, Northern Development and Mines