ENWIN will have to pay $35,000 fine for improperly disconnecting hundreds of customers following a mistake calculating how long they had to make good on their electricity bills.
The Ontario Energy Board said disconnection notices to over 6,700 customers between May and June of last year. Of those, 263 had their service cut, and 155 were charged a reconnection fee.
ENWIN admitted the mistake and assures customers it has taken steps to ensure it does not happen again.
The agency which oversees distributors issued the fine following an inspection, and ruled the utility will have to contribute $32,648 to its Low-Income Energy Assistance Program.
Customers who were disconnected will also get a $50 credit on their bill.
The penalty was announced on Monday, but ENWIN reconnected the impacted customers and refunded reconnection charges in July 2019.
"The non-compliant disconnection notices were based on an incorrect calculation of the earliest date on which disconnection may occur, and, as a result these customers were not given proper notice of their possible disconnection by ENWIN," read a release from the Ontario Energy Board. "In addition, the overdue amount for payment incorrectly included amounts for water and sewer arrears."
Utilities are supposed to give customers a minimum of ten days to pay what they owe before the service is cut off.
The OEB does not allow distributors to disconnect a customer's electricity for non-payment of charges that are not related to electricity.
"Customers are at risk of harm when their utility doesn't follow the rules," said Brian Hewson, vice-president of consumer protection and industry performance. "Utilities must provide correct information in their disconnection notices so that customers know what they owe and by when they must make payment to avoid disconnection."