Energy Performance Program

With the new EPP Portal, you only need to provide minimal building details, one year of hourly interval data, a recent electricity utility bill, and the baseline energy model gets generated automatically. However, if the created baseline model doesn’t meet the program requirement criteria, you will be asked to provide hourly or daily data of the parameters that influence the electricity consumption.

The program requires that you have 12 months of hourly interval data for each facility. If you do not have 12 months of hourly interval data, it may still be possible that you are able to enrol. Please contact us at: info@energyperformanceprogram.ca or 1-888-852-2440. Make sure to see what other programs you may be eligible for at www.saveonenergy.ca.

With the new EPP Portal, the application process and technical review can be completed in as little as a week. Note that this does not include time associated with information requests or discussions between the applicant and the technical reviewer that may be necessary for an approved baseline energy model to be generated.

Yes, additional facilities can be enrolled under the organization’s existing EPP Participation Agreement, with each having its own pay-for-performance periods.

Yes. The participant is committed to the program for a three-year term for each approved facility.

The IESO recommends waiting for your application to be approved before implementing any energy or demand saving measures and activities. You may commence your projects once your application is submitted but choosing to do so before receiving approval means you take on the risk of not receiving incentives for initiated measures and activities should your application not be approved.

If there is a Retrofit Program project at the facility that has not yet reached post-project submission, you may still be eligible to enroll the facility in the Energy Performance Program. Please contact us at: info@energyperformanceprogram.ca or 1-888-852-2440.

You are eligible to participate in the Instant Discounts Program, however, the associated savings will be removed via a baseline adjustment.

The Retrofit Program provides incentives on a per-measure basis to support specific energy-efficiency capital projects and initiatives. The EPP provides incentives on a facility level and measure-agnostic basis. In EPP, i.e., savings are assessed based on overall reduction to facility energy use resulting from equipment upgrades, operation and maintenance (O&M) improvements and/or behavioural initiatives.

The EPP provides a three-year term with annual payments for total energy savings achieved through each of the three performance periods. In addition to offering incentives for facility improvements that are not currently available under the Retrofit Program (e.g., O&M and behavioural changes), the three-year cumulative value of the incentives paid under the EPP can often exceed the Retrofit incentives available for the same equipment upgrades.

A comprehensive comparison of the EPP and Retrofit program can be found here.

For participants who enroll on or after January 1, 2025, there is a new incentive rate of $0.30/kWh for electricity consumed during business days between June 1 and September 30 (inclusive), between the hours of 3 p.m. and 9 p.m. (EDT). The incentive rate for savings outside of summer peak hours has also increased to $0.08/kWh.

For participants who enrolled prior to January 1, 2025, their incentives will remain unchanged at $0.15/kWh for electricity savings during summer peak hours and at $0.04/kWh for electricity savings outside of summer peak hours.

Participants receive a performance incentive calculated as incentive rate multiplied by electricity savings. The electricity savings are determined by comparing metered consumption to the facility’s baseline energy model.

The incentive rates are:

• $0.30/kWh for savings during on-peak hours* or $0.15/kWh for savings during on-peak hours*, in accordance with your Participant Agreement
• $0.08/kWh for savings during off-peak hours or $0.04/kWh for savings during off-peak hours, in accordance with your Participant Agreement

* Electricity consumed on weekdays between June 1 and September 30 (inclusive), between the hours of 3 p.m. and 9 p.m. (EDT).

You will receive an incentive corresponding to the approved savings achieved during each pay-for-performance period. You must submit an invoice for the savings incentive amount provided in the approved savings report plus applicable taxes to info@energyperformanceprogram.ca. Please allow eight to 12 weeks to receive your incentive payment.

Once a participant’s application is approved, the participant will receive an optional one-time advance of part of the anticipated performance incentive for each approved facility, calculated as follows:

Baseline Energy Consumption * 2.5% * $0.08/kWh

No. Both the IESO and the participant enter into the program with the expectation of saving a minimum of five percent of the facility consumption, but the IESO understands that changed circumstances can impact a participant’s ability to meet this minimum requirement. The IESO is therefore offering participants the flexibility to forgo the pre-project incentive payment and to receive payment only for actual savings achieved through the pay-for-performance period reporting.

You can elect to receive the upfront pre-project incentive after your facility has been approved to participate in the EPP. You must submit an invoice for the approved pre-project incentive amount plus applicable taxes to info@energyperformanceprogram.ca. Please allow eight to 12 weeks to receive your incentive payment.

Hourly interval data sourced from a Measurement Canada-certified meter is required to create your 365-day model. If you have data in intervals more frequent than hourly (e.g., 15-minute intervals), this can be aggregated into hourly data in the EPP Portal.

For the Energy Performance Program, IPMVP Option C (whole building analysis approach) is used to calculate electricity savings.

The IPMVP uses this equation:

Avoided Energy Consumption = (Baseline Period Energy ± Routine Adjustment to Reporting Period Conditions ± Non-Routine Adjustments to the Reporting Period Conditions) - Reporting Period Energy

Non-routine adjustments to baseline models are done on a case-by-case basis depending on the type of facility.

You should always inform the service provider of any significant operational changes in your facility, who will then work with you to determine whether the non-routine adjustment approach can be considered during the reported period. Any non-routine events (NREs) and non-routine adjustments (NRAs) should be performed in accordance with the IPMVP Application Guide on Non-Routine Events & Adjustments, October 2020, EVO 10400 - 1:2020.

Please refer to the EPP Technical Guide found on the program website.

The baseline energy use for the facility is determined based on weather and can also be adjusted for regularly occurring occupancy changes. When savings are reported under the conditions of the reporting period, they are compared against this baseline, which is adjusted to reflect the conditions of the reporting period. This approach aligns with the International Performance Measurement and Verification Protocol (IPMVP) avoided energy methodology.

No. The EPP Portal generates a baseline energy model that remains valid for all pay-for-performance periods. However, if there’s an unforeseen change at the facility, such as an expansion or a significant shift in occupancy, this could trigger a non-routine adjustment. In such cases, the service provider will address these non-routine adjustments based on the information provided through the EPP Portal regarding the non-routine event.