Ontario Peak Perks explained: enrolment, events, and whether the credits are worth it

Ontario households leave a prepaid card on the table because they fear a stranger will cook them on a July afternoon — or they buy a thermostat for Peak Perks and then sit on ULO’s 39.1 ¢ dinner hour. Peak Perks is a summer demand-response program. It is not a hydro discount and not a reason to ignore plan choice.

Amounts and rules below are from Save on Energy’s Peak Perks page and Hydro One’s myEnergy Rewards FAQ, verified 20 Sep 2026. They move. Re-read the live page before you enrol or buy hardware.

What Peak Perks is (IESO / Save on Energy demand response)

The Independent Electricity System Operator, under the Save on Energy brand, pays households and small businesses to allow short, remote thermostat adjustments when the grid is stressed — typically the hottest weekday afternoons. Program requirements describe an availability window of 1 June to 30 September, weekdays, about noon to 9 p.m., events at most three hours.

You are not selling your furnace. You are lending the air conditioner (or the cooling side of a heat pump) for a few events. Your RPP ¢/kWh does not change. Delivery does not change. You may use a few fewer kWh during the event; the advertised money is the prepaid card, not a line on the hydro bill.

Eligibility: central AC or heat pump + eligible connected thermostat

From the Peak Perks page (20 Sep 2026):

• Residential electricity customer in Ontario, or a small business with 50 or fewer employees on site.
• Central air conditioning controlled by the smart thermostat. Heat pumps that are part of that central AC are eligible. Window units and baseboard-only homes are not the product.
• An eligible Wi-Fi thermostat, connected, on the published list (ecobee, Emerson Sensi, Google Nest, Honeywell Home, Alarm.com, and some Trane models — the table changes; check the live list).
• Not enrolled in another Ontario residential DR program that auto-adjusts the thermostat. Exception noted on the page: Sarnia residents in Enbridge’s Sarnia Saves can also do Peak Perks.
• Cornwall is on the Hydro-Québec grid and is not eligible.

Enrol at the Peak Perks site or in the thermostat app. You get an email when eligibility is confirmed. Questions: info@peakperks.ca. Save on Energy names EnergyHub and Blackhawk (My Prepaid Center) as fulfilment vendors — phishing exists; if the email looks wrong, start from saveonenergy.ca.

Enrolment bonus and annual credits (verify live amounts at draft)

Program page, 20 Sep 2026:

• $75 virtual prepaid Mastercard after acceptance, typically within 60 days, to the enrolment email.
• $20 virtual prepaid Mastercard for each year you stay enrolled, paid after the activation season (the FAQ ties the 2026 $20 to enrolment before 30 Sep 2025; new enrollees should read the current year’s cut-off).
• One enrolment incentive per thermostat journey. Swapping brands later does not pay another $75. Unenrolling (email info@peakperks.ca) stops events and the annual card.

Save on Energy has also advertised a separate $75 off thermostat path via the Home Renovation Savings Program and a free-stat path via the Energy Affordability Program — those are different offers with their own eligibility. Do not stack stories in your head; stack pages on the desk.

Is $75 “worth it”? If you already own an eligible stat and have central AC, yes — enrol. If you would have to buy a $200–$300 device, the card is a partial offset, not a payback. Factor any TOU / ULO shifting the device also enables.

What happens in a DR event and override options

Save on Energy’s own steps:

1. Before: possible notification in the app; optional pre-cool of about 1°C for ~30 minutes.
2. During: setpoint raised by up to 2°C for up to three hours on a non-holiday weekday afternoon.
3. After: the thermostat returns to the prior setting.

You can opt out of an event on the thermostat or in the manufacturer’s app. You stay in the program. Chronic overrides are how you keep the card and donate nothing to the grid — legal, a bit beside the point, and a reason not to fear enrolment if someone in the house is heat-vulnerable: override that afternoon, stay enrolled.

Peak Perks vs Hydro One myEnergy Rewards overlap rules

Both programs auto-adjust a thermostat for the grid. Peak Perks is province-wide (minus Cornwall). myEnergy Rewards is Hydro One customers only. Hydro One’s FAQ is blunt: you cannot participate in both. Peak Perks eligibility says the same thing in program-requirement language (no other Ontario DR program that meets provincial system needs).

If you are Hydro One, open both live pages the week you enrol and compare current incentives and event rules. Then pick one. Switching later means unenrolling first so you are not in two systems at once.

This is not a competition with Ontario’s RPP clocks. You can be on TOU, ULO, or Tiered and still do Peak Perks. A retailer contract affects Customer Choice elections, not this demand-response program — different paperwork.

Comfort tips for event afternoons without defeating the program

• When a notification lands, close south and west blinds before the pre-cool finishes.
• Do not start the oven at 4 p.m. on a warned event day. That is also ULO self-defence if you elected that plan.
• A ceiling fan (you already own) is more comfort per watt than fighting the setpoint.
• If someone is elderly, very young, or heat-sensitive, override without guilt. The program allows it.
• Do not “pre-defeat” every event by raising the baseline to 26°C all summer. You just live in a warmer house and still get adjusted.

Peak Perks is a small, clean credit for hardware you may already own. It is not a heating strategy. For winter bills, go back to fuel math and the attic.