Bill 112 explained in plain English
Strengthening Consumer Protection and Electricity System Oversight Act, 2015
Ontario legislature bill summary, status, timeline, sponsor, votes, and official sources.
At a glance
Official Legislative Assembly of Ontario snapshot for 41st Parliament, 1st Session. Representative vote breakdowns appear when the Assembly publishes an Ayes and Nays page for the bill.
Our plain-language take, written for civic education.
Source: By PoliticalData.ca
Bill 112 amends Ontario's energy consumer protection and electricity board acts to strengthen consumer safeguards and regulatory oversight.
This bill, the Strengthening Consumer Protection and Electricity System Oversight Act, 2015, makes several amendments to existing laws, primarily the Energy Consumer Protection Act, 2010 and the Ontario Energy Board Act, 1998. It aims to enhance consumer protections in the energy sector and strengthen oversight of the electricity system. Key changes include new rules for door-to-door sales of electricity and gas, increased powers for the Ontario Energy Board in cases of financial distress or reliability issues with transmitters and distributors, and updated penalties for offences. It also clarifies regulations regarding pricing, consumer representation, and information sharing between regulatory bodies.
- Introduces new rules to prohibit in-person sales of electricity or gas at a consumer's home and deems contracts made in contravention void.
- Allows for regulations to govern advertising and marketing of electricity or gas sales at a consumer's home, with contraventions also leading to voided contracts.
- Prohibits suppliers from remunerating salespersons in a way that contravenes these new advertising and marketing rules.
- Clarifies that regulations prevail over Ontario Energy Board codes or rules in case of conflict.
- Establishes that contracts are void if they result from a contravention of the new door-to-door sales rules or the advertising/marketing rules.
- Repeals a section of the Energy Consumer Protection Act related to verification requirements for contracts, making all contracts subject to existing verification rules.
- Expands the scope of the Ontario Energy Board's (OEB) emergency powers to include transmitters in addition to distributors, and allows for the appointment of supervisors for transmitters or distributors facing financial or reliability issues.
- Requires distributors to maintain their head offices in Ontario.
- Requires the OEB to establish processes for consumer representation in its proceedings.
- Modifies rules regarding the acquisition of shares or control of transmitters or distributors, lowering ownership thresholds requiring OEB approval.
- Enables the Lieutenant Governor in Council to declare the construction or expansion of certain transmission lines as priority projects.
- Facilitates information sharing agreements between the OEB and the Electrical Safety Authority.
- Significantly increases maximum penalties for offences under the Ontario Energy Board Act for both individuals and corporations.
- Updates the duties of directors and officers of corporations in the energy sector.
- Authorizes the OEB to permit transmitters or distributors to carry on business activities other than transmitting or distributing electricity in special circumstances.
- Repeals a section of the Ontario Energy Board Act that limited business activities of affiliates of municipally-controlled distributors.
- Electricity retailers
- Gas marketers
- Electricity and gas consumers
- Electricity and gas suppliers
- Ontario Energy Board (OEB)
- Distributors of electricity
- Transmitters of electricity
- Salespersons in the energy sector
- Directors and officers of corporations in the energy sector
- Electrical Safety Authority
- Suppliers and salespersons are prohibited from selling or offering to sell electricity or gas in person at a consumer's home.
- Contracts entered into in contravention of the new home sales rules are deemed void.
- Suppliers and salespersons must comply with regulations governing advertising and marketing at consumers' homes.
- Distributors must maintain their head offices in Ontario.
- The OEB must establish processes for consumer representation in its proceedings.
- Directors and officers of energy sector corporations have a duty to exercise care, diligence, and skill, and to ensure compliance with applicable laws.
- The OEB can exercise emergency powers over transmitters and distributors failing to meet obligations or standards.
- The OEB can appoint a supervisor for entities that are failing to meet financial obligations or reliability standards.
- This Act received Royal Assent on December 3, 2015.
- The Act comes into force on a day to be named by proclamation of the Lieutenant Governor.
- Maximum fines for individuals for offences under the Ontario Energy Board Act are increased from $50,000 to $100,000 for first offences and from $150,000 to $300,000 for subsequent offences.
- Maximum fines for corporations for offences under the Ontario Energy Board Act are increased from $250,000 to $1,000,000 for first offences and from $1,000,000 to $2,000,000 for subsequent offences.
- The OEB may order transmitters or distributors to pay the costs incurred by the OEB or a supervisor.
- Maximum administrative penalties for contraventions are significantly increased, with the potential to be increased further by the amount of monetary benefit gained from the contravention.
- Contracts entered into in contravention of new rules prohibiting in-person sales at a consumer's home are deemed void.
- Contracts entered into in contravention of regulations for advertising or marketing at a consumer's home are deemed void.
- The OEB can amend or suspend the licence of a transmitter or distributor.
- The OEB can order remedial steps for transmitters or distributors facing financial or reliability issues.
- Increased maximum fines for individuals and corporations for offences under the Ontario Energy Board Act.
- Significantly increased maximum administrative penalties for contraventions.
- The specific date when the Act comes into force is not yet determined, as it depends on proclamation by the Lieutenant Governor.
- The regulations prescribing requirements for determining prices, or governing advertising and marketing, are not detailed in this bill text.
- The definition of 'reliability standard' or 'other standards' for transmitters and distributors in the context of OEB emergency powers or supervisor appointments is not fully elaborated within this bill text.
- The specific 'special circumstances' under which the OEB may authorize transmitters or distributors to carry on other business activities are not detailed.
Introduces new rules for door-to-door sales, advertising, and marketing of electricity and gas, and clarifies pricing determination methods. It also repeals Section 17, affecting contract verification, and amends Section 35(3) to provide regulation-making authority.
Source: Sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 of Bill 112
Expands the Ontario Energy Board's (OEB) emergency powers, allows for supervisor appointments, requires distributors to have head offices in Ontario, mandates consumer representation processes, clarifies rules on acquiring shares of transmitters/distributors, repeals Section 73, enables declaration of priority transmission projects, and increases penalties. It also amends sections related to record-keeping, exceptions for business activities, and duties of directors.
Source: Sections 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 of Bill 112
Generated using AI from official bill text. Not legal advice. It is written by PoliticalData.ca for civic education, automatically checked and spot-reviewed before publishing.
Official textProcess Snapshot
Vote Summary
This bill does not have a published recorded division in the current official sources, so representative-by-representative vote counts are not shown.
No published representative vote breakdown
The current official sources do not publish a recorded division breakdown for this bill, so there is no representative-by-representative table to show.
Official sources
Status, sponsor, votes, and timeline on this page are drawn from these official legislative sources and public records. Each summary above is attributed to its own source.
How this data is sourced