Maximum financial assistance — s. 4 (1.1) of the Act
 3.1 (1) The maximum amount of financial assistance to which a consumer is entitled in respect of an eligible account for a billing period is the amount calculated under this section.  O. Reg. 197/12, s. 4. (2) For any billing period that begins on or after September 1, 2012 and ends before January 1, 2016, the maximum amount of financial assistance is calculated using the formula, A × B × C in which, “A”  is 10 per cent, “B”  is the base invoice amount in respect of the eligible account for the billing period, as determined under subsection 3 (1), and “C”  is the lesser of 1 and the amount calculated using the formula, D/E in which, “D”  is the maximum number of kilowatt hours for the billing period, as described in subsection (5), “E”  is the number of kilowatt hours of electricity used to determine the commodity price of electricity for the billing period, without any adjustment for total losses as defined in the Retail Settlement Code. O. Reg. 197/12, s. 4. (3) For a billing period that begins before September 1, 2012 and ends on or after that date, the maximum amount of financial assistance is calculated as follows: 1.  Apportion the base invoice amount for the billing period, as determined under subsection 3 (1), between the portion of the billing period that falls before September 1, 2012 and the remaining portion of the billing period. 2.  Calculate the financial assistance for the portion of the billing period that falls before September 1, 2012 by multiplying the base invoice amount for that portion of the billing period by 10 per cent. 3.  Calculate the maximum amount of financial assistance for the remaining portion of the billing period in accordance with subsection (2).  However, for the purposes of the definitions of “D” and “E” in that subsection, the references to the billing period shall be read as if they referred only to that portion of the billing period that falls on or after September 1, 2012. 4.  Add the amounts calculated under paragraphs 1 and 2.  The sum of those amounts is the maximum amount of financial assistance to which the consumer is entitled in respect of the eligible account for the billing period.  O. Reg. 197/12, s. 4. (4) For a billing period that begins before January 1, 2016 and ends on or after that date, the maximum amount of financial assistance is calculated as follows: 1.  Apportion the base invoice amount for the billing period, as determined under subsection 3 (1), between the portion of the billing period that falls before January 1, 2016 and the remaining portion of the billing period. 2.  Calculate the maximum amount of financial assistance for the portion of the billing period that falls before January 1, 2016 in accordance with subsection (2).  However, for the purposes of the definitions of “D” and “E” in that subsection, the references to the billing period shall be read as if they referred only to the portion of the billing period that falls before January 1, 2016. 3.  The amount calculated under paragraph 2 is the maximum amount of financial assistance to which the consumer is entitled in respect of the eligible account for the billing period.  O. Reg. 197/12, s. 4. (5) For the purposes of the definition of “D” in subsection (2), the following is the maximum number of kilowatt hours for a billing period: 1.  For a billing period that is one month, as defined in subsection (6), it is 3,000 kilowatt hours.  For a multi-unit complex with an eligible account that relates to more than one unit, it is 3,000 kilowatt hours multiplied by the number of units included in the eligible account. 2.  For a billing period other than one month, as defined in subsection (6), it is a proportionate number of kilowatt hours, based on the number described in paragraph 1.  O. Reg. 197/12, s. 4. (6) In subsection (5), “month” means, (a)  in relation to an eligible account with a licensed distributor, the period for which the licensed distributor assesses any monthly charge approved by the Board, and (b)  in relation to an eligible account with an electricity vendor other than a licensed distributor, a calendar month.  O. Reg. 197/12, s. 4. (7) For the purposes of this section, the number of units in a multi-unit complex is determined as follows: 1.  If, before July 1, 2016, the consumer gives written notice to the electricity vendor stating the number of units in the multi-unit complex, the number of units is the number stated in the notice. 2.  If the electricity vendor does not receive the written notice described in paragraph 1, the number of units in the multi-unit complex is deemed to be one. 3.  If the multi-unit complex contains units with unit smart meters (within the meaning of the Energy Consumer Protection Act, 2010), those units are deemed not to be part of the multi-unit complex.  O. Reg. 197/12, s. 4. (8) Subsection 3 (3) applies with respect to the apportionment of the base invoice amount under subsections (3) and (4).  O. Reg. 197/12, s. 4.