LDC vs retailer: how Ontario splits the bill

Ontario, unlike Alberta, integrates most of the bill under the local distribution company. Your LDC owns the wires, reads the meter, AND defaults you onto the OEB's Regulated Price Plan rate unless you have signed with a licensed retailer. Most Ontario households deal with their LDC for everything.

LDC (fixed by address)
Wires + default supply
  • Owns the poles, wires, transformers, meter
  • Sends the bill at the OEB's RPP rate
  • Restores power, installs new connections
  • Tariff set by the Ontario Energy Board (OEB)
Optional: licensed retailer
Long-term fixed-rate contract
  • Replaces the commodity portion of the bill only
  • Door-to-door sales banned (ECPA 2010)
  • Delivery + GA + regulatory unchanged
  • Niche market in Ontario residential

All 58 Ontario electricity distributors

Grouped by region. Click any card for the full contact, outage, RPP and territory page.

Northern + Far North + Indigenous

14 LDCs
Greater Sudbury Hydro
Greater Sudbury Hydro
Sudbury

Municipally-owned

Customers: ~47,800 accounts
View distributor
Synergy North
Synergy North
Thunder Bay (with a second office in Kenora)

Municipally-owned (multi-shareholder)

Customers: ~57,000 accounts
View distributor
PUC Distribution
PUC Distribution
Sault Ste. Marie

Municipally-owned

Customers: ~34,000 accounts
View distributor
Algoma Power
Algoma Power
Sault Ste. Marie

Investor-owned

Customers: ~12,000 accounts
View distributor
Northern Ontario Wires
Northern Ontario Wires
Cochrane

Municipally-owned

Customers: ~6,400 accounts
View distributor
Hearst Power
Hearst Power
Hearst

Municipally-owned

Customers: ~2,600 accounts
View distributor
Atikokan Hydro
Atikokan Hydro
Atikokan

Municipally-owned

Customers: ~1,600 accounts
View distributor
Sioux Lookout Hydro
Sioux Lookout Hydro
Sioux Lookout

Municipally-owned

Customers: ~3,500 accounts
View distributor
Fort Frances Power
Fort Frances Power
Fort Frances

Municipally-owned

Customers: ~3,700 accounts
View distributor
Hydro One Networks (Cat Lake)
Hydro One Networks (Cat Lake)
Toronto (Hydro One Networks head office)

Hydro One subsidiary (isolated community)

Customers: ~150 accounts
View distributor
Hydro One Remote Communities
Hydro One Remote Communities
Thunder Bay

Hydro One subsidiary (isolated grids)

Customers: ~5,250 accounts
View distributor
Attawapiskat Power Corporation
Attawapiskat Power Corporation
Attawapiskat

Indigenous-owned

Customers: Small remote community
View distributor
Fort Albany Power Corporation
Fort Albany Power Corporation
Fort Albany

Indigenous-owned

Customers: Small remote community
View distributor
Kashechewan Power Corporation
Kashechewan Power Corporation
Kashechewan

Indigenous-owned

Customers: Small remote community
View distributor

How to find your LDC in 60 seconds

1
Check your bill

The LDC name and OEB licence number appear at the top of every Ontario electricity bill. Delivery charges are billed by the LDC, not the retailer.

2
Use the OEB lookup

The OEB publishes a "Find your local utility" tool. Type your address at oeb.ca and the distributor for that address appears within seconds.

3
Check this directory

Every Ontario LDC has a page on this site. Browse by region above; each page has the 24/7 outage line and live outage map URL.

Selectra energy expert answers

How many electricity distributors operate in Ontario?
About 60 OEB-licensed local distribution companies (LDCs) serve electricity customers in Ontario, plus Hydro One Networks (the largest, serving most of rural Ontario, ~1.4 million customers) and Hydro One Remote Communities (serving 21+ isolated First Nations communities in the Far North). Toronto Hydro is the largest urban LDC with ~797,000 customer accounts; the smallest serve just a few hundred customers in remote James Bay coast communities.

How do I find out which LDC serves my address?
Three reliable ways: (1) check your most recent electricity bill, the distributor name is printed at the top of the first page along with their OEB licence number; (2) look up your address on the OEB's "Find your local utility" tool at oeb.ca; (3) most LDC websites accept a postal-code lookup on their home page.

Can I choose my electricity distributor in Ontario?
No. The distributor is fixed by your address. Unlike retail competition (where licensed retailers compete on commodity rates), distribution is a regulated monopoly per the Electricity Act, 1998. The same wires deliver power to your address regardless of who you choose to bill you for the kWh.

What is the Regulated Price Plan (RPP) and how does it work in 2026?
The RPP is the OEB-set default electricity rate for most residential and small-business customers. It is updated every six months (1 May and 1 November) and offers three rate structures: Time-of-Use (TOU) with peak/mid/off-peak periods, Tiered with a low and a high consumption block, and Ultra-Low Overnight (ULO) targeted at EV owners who can charge overnight. You can switch structures any time by contacting your LDC.

Who do I call for a power outage?
Always your local distribution company (LDC), never an energy retailer. The retailer cannot dispatch a line crew. Every LDC profile page on this site lists the 24/7 outage line, the online outage hub and the live map. For a downed live wire or any life-threatening situation, call 911 first.

Does my distribution charge change if I switch retailer?
No. Distribution charges, the Global Adjustment, transmission, regulatory charges, the Ontario Electricity Rebate and HST are all set by the OEB and are identical for every customer at your address regardless of retailer. Only the commodity (per-kWh) portion of your bill changes when you switch.

Why do some Ontario LDCs merge so often?
The OEB has encouraged consolidation among Ontario's historically fragmented LDC sector since the late 1990s, on the view that scale reduces unit costs and improves reliability. Recent examples include Alectra (2017, four-way merger), Elexicon (2019, Veridian + Whitby), GrandBridge (2022, Brantford + Energy+), Enova (2022, Kitchener-Wilmot + Waterloo North), the announced 2025 acquisitions of E.L.K. Energy by ENWIN and Westario by ERTH. Roughly 90 LDCs in 2000 are down to about 60 today.