Your Commercial Hydro Account

Opening your first account| Moving your account
Closing your account | Security deposits

Opening an Account

To open a commercial account with us, you may visit our Customer Service office on the main floor of our offices located at 34 Cumberland St. North. You may also print off our forms and fax them into our Customer Services at FAX (807) 343-1044

The process is simple.

1. Please provide the following information:

Sole Proprietor/Partnership:
some form of personal identification, your home address, business telephone and fax number, complete business address (and your landlord's if applicable), address of head office (if applicable), your financial institution for business, previous hydro account information and the date your service is to begin.

Limited Liability (Inc. or Ltd.):
some form of personal identification, your position with the company and whether you have signing authority, information on how long you have been in business, address of your head
office (if applicable), complete business address (and your landlord's if applicable), the company's financial institution, the date your service is to begin.

2. You will be asked to complete a Credit Information Form and to sign a contract.

3. A security deposit will be required.

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Security Deposits

Security Deposits are charged for new accounts. For complete details, please contact Customer Service at 343-1111 or read our Policy.

Note: If a payment history shows more than one disconnection notice in a 12 month period, the highest bill at the service location can be used to calculate the deposit.

Waiving of Security Deposit

If you have a good payment history* with us or another Canadian electric or natural gas distributor. Deposits are waived under the following conditions:

Under 50 Kilowatt Demand (GU)
A letter from the electric or gas utility confirming 5 years good payment history, or a credit check provided at your expense.

Over 50 Kilowatt Demand Class
A letter from the electric or gas utility confirming 7 years good payment history or, for customers under 5000 kW demand, a credit check provided at your expense.

* A good payment history includes: not more than one Disconnect Notice; not more than one cheque or pre-authorized payment returned for insufficient funds; and no disconnections or collect trips.

Your deposit may also be waived if you provide a letter of guarantee from your banking institution for the amount of your required deposit.

Payment Options: Your deposit can be paid:

by cash, certified cheque or money order

by cheque, if acceptable to Thunder Bay Hydro

with an irrevocable Letter of Credit from a chartered Canadian Bank or Credit Union

Government of Canada or Ontario Bearer Bonds

Band Council Resolution Guarantee

Security Deposit Interest : Your security deposit earns interest at a rate of 2% less than the Bank of Canada's prime business rate (updated quarterly). The interest is credited to your account at least once every 12 months, or on return of you security deposit or upon closure of your account, whichever comes first.

Review of Security Deposit : Your security deposit is reviewed after one year. Based on this review, your deposit amount is re-calculated based on your previous year's bills.

Customers under 5000 kW Demand: If the amount of the deposit is to be adjusted upward, the adjustment will be applied to your hydro bill and your deposit held for another year. If no adjustment is required and you have a good payment history, the deposit will be credited back to you on your hydro bill.

Customers over 5000 kW Demand: If the amount of the deposit is to be adjusted upward, the adjustment will be applied to your hydro bill and your deposit held for another year. If no adjustment is required and you have a good payment history, 50% of the deposit will be refunded to you.

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Moving Your Account

If you are moving to another address within Thunder Bay, you can change your account by calling our office at least five business days prior to your move at 343-1111 with the following information:

your current Thunder Bay Hydro account number
your business name, address and telephone number
whether you are a tenant or owner
your new address and telephone number
the final date the meter should be read at your existing address and the initial date the meter should be read at your new address

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Closing Your Account

You can close your account by calling or visiting our office at least five business days prior to your move. We will need to know:

your current Thunder Bay Hydro account numberyour business name, address and telephone number
whether you are a tenant or owner
the final date on which the meter should be read, and what arrangements, if any, are required to access the meter.
a forwarding address for your final bill

This page last updated 2013-03-14.