Save up to 20% on your winter electricity bill
From December 1 to March 31, Rate Flex D offers savings on your electricity bill. To take full advantage of it, simply take steps to use electricity more wisely during winter peak periods!
On this page:
Rate Flex D at a glance
How can you save money with Rate Flex D? How does it work? You’ll find answers to your questions in this video.
Running time: 1 min 40 s
How does Rate Flex D work?
With Rate Flex D, you can save quite a bit of money, since most of the time in winter, you'll be charged less than the base rate, except during occasional peak demand events, when you'll be charged more than the base rate.
| Rates | |
|---|---|
| Winter – Outside peak demand events | In winter, more than 95% of the time, the price of electricity is below the base rate. |
| Winter – During peak demand events | During 5% of the season at most, the price of electricity is higher than the base rate. |
| The rest of the year | Rate D (base rate) prices apply. |
| Time of the year | Rates |
|---|---|
| Winter – Outside peak demand events | In winter, more than 95% of the time, the price of electricity is below the base rate. |
| Winter – During peak demand events | During 5% of the season at most, the price of electricity is higher than the base rate. |
| The rest of the year | Rate D (base rate) prices apply. |
Peak demand events
Frequency and duration
Frequency: A maximum of 30 peak demand events per winter
Duration: A maximum of 120 hours
Possible time periods
Dates: December 1 to March 31
Days: 7 days a week
Time: 6 to 10 a.m. and 4 to 8 p.m.
Savings
How much you save will vary, depending on the number of peak event hours accumulated during the winter.
Communication
A notification is sent by email the day before a peak demand event. You can also opt to receive peak demand event notifications through the Hydro‑Québec mobile app.
Doing the right thing at the right time
To maximize your savings with Rate Flex D, the trick is to reduce your electricity use during peak demand events:
- by turning down your thermostats at the start of a peak demand event
- by delaying your use of hot water until the event is over
Tools to track your electricity use and savings during peak demand events are available in your Customer Space.
Yay for automation!
By letting Hilo manage your consumption, you’ll maximize your savings without lifting a finger! Smart thermostats and other Hilo devices are now available starting at $0* with Rate Flex D.
* Conditions apply.- See your electricity use in real time and track your savings.
- The consumption of connected devices is optimized during peak demand events.
- You remain in control of your thermostats at all times.
*
Sign up for Hilo and Hydro‑Québec will donate $5* to your local Centraide
* Customers must sign up by December 31, 2025; up to a maximum donation of $500,000.
Switch to Hilo smart homeEligibility
Rate Flex D is for Rate D (base rate) customers who are able to use less electricity during peak demand events or shift their nonessential electricity consumption to outside of those periods.
- A Rate D service contract
- An electrical installation supplied by the main grid rather than by an off-grid system
- A communicating meter ;
- A Customer Space with a valid email address (for peak demand event notifications)
In addition, you must not:
- Be signed up for any other rate options
- Have canceled a Rate Flex D contract during the previous winter period
- Dwellings for which the electricity is metered separately in most cases
- Farms: Land, buildings and equipment used to raise crops or
livestock, excluding any commercial activity or industrial
activity
See our eligibility criteria regarding domestic rates for farms [PDF 583 kb] - Apartment buildings for which the electricity is metered separately or in bulk if the apartment building was built after April 1, 2008
- Community residences consisting of individual units (separate metering)
- Community residences (9 rooms or less)
- Rooming houses (9 rooms or less)
- Bed and breakfasts (9 rooms or less)
- Foster families or foster homes (9 people or less)
- Tourist homes (separate metering)
- Residential outbuildings, that is, any buildings or installations
belonging to premises used for habitation purposes
- used exclusively by the persons occupying the dwelling or apartment building
- used exclusively for purposes related to those of the dwelling or apartment building
- Portion of electricity used for purposes other than habitation (installed capacity 10 kilowatts (kW) or less)
Save up to 20% on your winter electricity bill
FAQs
With Rate Flex D, you save all winter long because you benefit from a lower price than the base rate (Rate D) for 95% of the period. The cost of electricity only goes up during peak demand events, so those are the best times to reduce your consumption. When there are no peak demand events, your savings will increase every day until the end of the season, on March 31.
That's why the savings you see in your customer space vary every day during the period from December 1 to March 31.
The day before a peak demand event, you’ll receive a notification by email and, if you wish, through the Hydro‑Québec mobile app to notify you of the event start and end times. All peak demand event notifications will also be posted in your Customer Space.
Hydro-Québec cannot be held responsible for nonreceipt of a notification due to the failure of equipment belonging to you or your telecommunications provider.
There is no pre-established threshold, but the temperature is an important factor.
Peak demand events are scheduled when we anticipate high demand for electricity in Québec in winter. That’s the main consideration. It’s true that on cold days everyone uses a lot of energy at the same time, so the temperature has an impact on demand forecasts. However, demand isn’t always the same for a given temperature. For example, if it is −10°C for several days in a row, demand for electricity will be greater on the last day than on the first.
Other factors that affect the forecasted demand have to do with operating constraints related to electricity supply as well as power transmission and distribution. To manage power demand, Hydro-Québec diligently applies all the means at its disposal, including dynamic pricing.
Peak demand events can take place from December 1 to March 31, from 6 to 10 a.m. and from 4 to 8 p.m., excluding December 24, 25, 26 and 31, and January 1 and 2, as well as Good Friday and Easter Monday when they fall within the winter period.
- Maximum number of events per day: 2 events
- Duration of an event: 4 hours
- Maximum total duration of events in the winter period: 120 hours
You can sign up for Rate Flex D all year round.
You can cancel a Rate Flex D service contract at any time by calling Hydro‑Québec’s customer services. Your contract will then become subject to Rate D (base rate), if it is still eligible, or to any other rate for which it is eligible.
Hydro‑Québec reserves the right to terminate your service contract at this rate if there are recurring problems in gathering hourly metering data.
Under no circumstances shall the information provided here replace the Electricity Rates.
More information
To find out more about Rate Flex D, see Section 9 of Chapter 2 of the Electricity Rates [PDF 1.44 MB].
Off‑grid system
An “off‑grid system” is a power system not connected to Hydro‑Québec’s main grid.
Separate metering
Method of measuring energy consumed with a separate meter for each residential or commercial unit in a building.
Bulk metering
Method of measuring energy consumed with a single meter instead of separate meters for an entire multiunit commercial or residential building. The building owner is responsible for dividing the costs between the occupants.