Electricity and Water Reporting Obligations: the Who, What, Where, Why & When
We recently spoke to some managers about legal updates related to laws applicable to condominiums, other than the Condominium Act, 1998. One being the Electricity Act, 1998, and specifically Ontario Regulation 506/18, which outlines the reporting obligations related to energy consumption and water use. There were questions about the “who, what, where, why and when”, so this post is intended to provide a very brief overview of the basics on a condominium’s obligation to report its electricity consumption and water usage.
Who:
Condominiums with a) 10 or more units; and, b) at least 50,000 square feet of gross floor area, must comply with the reporting obligations set out in Regulation noted above.
What:
Report energy and water use, and the property’s gross floor area. This information can typically be provided by a condominium’s utility provider.
Where:
All reporting is done through an online database. A complete step by step guide on how a condominium can register for an account to fulfill reporting obligations can be found here: https://www.ontario.ca/page/measure-energy-and-water-use-large-buildings.
Why:
The overall intended purpose of the regulation relates to identifying how much energy and water larger buildings use, and finding ways to reduce or improve such energy and water use.
A building’s results are published in the Province’s online data catalogue in the second year of reporting (see here: https://www.ontario.ca/search/data-catalogue).
When:
Condominiums with at least:
- 100,000 square feet of gross floor area must report by July 1, 2019;
- 50,000 square feet of gross floor area but less than 100,000 square feet must report by July 1, 2020.