It's not just Thunder Bay homeowners getting new hydro bills showing the impact of time-of-use billing — small business owners are too.

Thunder Bay business owner Joe Skehar said his hydro bill is 10 per cent higher than last year. He blames the new time-of-use billing. (Matt Prokopchuk/CBC)

Thunder Bay business owner Joe Skehar said his bill is 10 per cent higher than last year. He owns Java Hut, a coffee shop and restaurant on Memorial Avenue. Even with gas-powered cooking appliances, he said he has to use a lot of electricity in peak hours.

“You've got to run your refrigerators and keep the products cold and stuff, so there's not much,” Skehar said. “You've got no choice in a restaurant.”

Skehar said he was actually expecting more than a 10 per cent increase in his hydro bill under the time-of-use system — but he’s expecting it will get worse this summer when he turns on the air-conditioner.

Thunder Bay Hydro offering seminars

Time-of-use billing is a frustrating proposition for business owners who want to cut back on costs, but can’t.

“You're open for the customers,” Skehar said. “You can't say 'well, you gotta come in at this time because we don't want to use our electricity at these hours because of the peak billing times.’”

Thunder Bay Hydro said it wants to help small businesses adjust to the new pricing system. This month, the utility will hold two seminars on time-of-use, specifically for local entrepreneurs.

“We're going to give them some examples of what other businesses are doing, and offer some of the programs that Thunder Bay Hydro through the Ontario Power Authority is offering,” said Bill Willis, supervisor of Conservation and Energy Services at Thunder Bay Hydro.

One of the things Hydro can do is replace up to $1,000 dollars worth of a business's lighting with energy efficient bulbs.

That won't help Joe Skehar. He said he's already done that.