Peak-Energy Savings Estimator

Ontario charges big electricity users part of their bill based on how much power they draw in the province's 5 busiest hours of the year. This tool shows whether your hotel qualifies, how many kilowatts you could move out of those hours, what that is worth each year, and gives your team a simple playbook for peak days.

Saves automatically in your browserNo sign-upFreeOntario Global Adjustment and ICI
The short version: Ontario's Global Adjustment (GA) is a large charge on every electricity bill that pays for the province's power plants and contracts. Most hotels pay it per kWh (Class B). Larger users can choose Class A under the Industrial Conservation Initiative (ICI): they pay GA according to their peak demand factor, which is their share of Ontario's demand in the 5 highest-demand hours of the year (usually hot summer weekday afternoons). Cut your load in those 5 hours and next year's GA bill drops for twelve months.

1Your hotel's demand

Peak demand is the most power (kW) the hotel draws at one time, shown on your electricity bill or utility portal. The monthly profile is optional but makes the eligibility check more accurate.

Average of the 12 monthly peaks on your bills. Used when the profile below is switched off.
Usually a hot July or August weekday around 5 pm. Your summer peak is a good guess. Use my summer peak
MonthPeak demand (kW)Energy used (kWh)

Leave a month blank if you don't have it; averages use the months you enter.

Monthly peak demand

Against the Class A thresholds set in Step 4.

2Equipment you can shift

For each system, the power it draws on a hot afternoon (kW) and the share you could turn down or move to another time for one peak hour without hurting guests.

EquipmentLoad on a hot afternoon (kW)% you can shiftkW cutHow

3How well you'll respond

Nobody knows the peak hours in advance. Alert services flag likely peak days, so hotels act on 10 to 15 alerts a summer to be sure of catching the 5 that count.

Be honest: missing one peak costs a fifth of the year's saving. With an alert service and a written playbook, 80% (4 of 5) is a realistic target; 100% takes automation.
Drives the extra pre-cooling cost
Peaks usually fall between 4 pm and 7 pm
Controls programming, alert service, staff training. Enter 0 to skip payback.

4Assumptions

Reasonable starting values for recent years. These are assumptions: check them with your utility or energy advisor, because GA costs change every year and the ICI rules are reviewed by the province.

Assumption, check with your utility.What one kW drawn during the peak hours adds to a full year of GA charges.
Assumption, check with your utility.5 under the ICI rules this tool was built on (base period May 1 to April 30).
Assumption, check with your utility.Above this you can opt in to Class A (above 5 MW it is automatic).
Assumption, check with your utility.From this up to the threshold above, opt-in has been limited to some sectors.
Assumption, check with your utility.Used only to compare Class A with staying on Class B.
Assumption, check with your utility.Cooling a building ahead of time uses a little extra energy.
Assumption, check with your utility.
Results update as you type.

Results

Saving vs peaks caught

Annual GA saving under Class A for each number of peak hours you manage to cut, before the pre-cooling cost. The darker bar is your expected result.

Where the kW come from

Each system's share of the kilowatts cut during a peak hour.

Contribution by equipment

Annual saving each system brings at your expected catch rate.

Class A or Class B?

A year of GA under each option, using the assumptions in Step 4.

5Peak day playbook

Print this for engineering, laundry and the front desk. Tick items off on an alert day; ticks are saved in this browser. Steps for equipment you set to 0 kW are left out.

Doing this by hand every alert day is the hard part. An AI agent can watch the IESO demand forecast, decide when to pre-cool and send the playbook to each department automatically.

See how an AI swarm does this automatically
How it's calculated

Class A GA charge. The real charge is your peak demand factor (your demand in the peak hours ÷ Ontario's demand in those hours, averaged over the 5 hours of the May to April base period) × the total Global Adjustment for each month of the following year. This tool simplifies that to demand in the peak hours (kW) × GA cost per kW-year. The default of $450 per kW-year is a rough figure in line with recent years. It is an assumption, check with your utility: it moves with the province's total GA cost and total peak demand.

kW cut = sum over equipment of load × % you can shift, capped at your demand in the peak hours. Expected peaks caught = share caught × number of peak hours. Because the charge uses the average over the peak hours, cutting C kW in k of N hours lowers your average by C × k ÷ N. Annual saving = C × k ÷ N × GA cost per kW-year.

Pre-cooling cost = alert days × hours per alert × kW cut × rebound % × energy price. Net saving = saving minus that cost. Payback = setup cost ÷ net saving.

Eligibility. The check uses your average monthly peak (from the profile when it is switched on). Above the Class A threshold (1 MW by default) a customer can opt in; above 5 MW Class A is automatic. Between 500 kW and 1 MW, opt-in has historically been limited to certain sectors such as manufacturing and greenhouses, so a hotel in that band should check with its utility. Opting in is usually done once a year, before the base period starts.

Class B comparison = annual kWh × the Class B GA rate. Annual kWh comes from the profile, or is estimated as average peak × 8,760 hours × 55% load factor when there is no profile.

Limits. This is an estimate for planning, not a bill calculation. It ignores transmission charges that also use peak demand (which add to the saving), weather-driven changes in your load, and the risk that a missed peak lands on a day you did not get an alert. Your inputs are stored only in this browser.