Ontario's New Peak Performance Program: What Your Facility Needs to Know Before Summer 2026

If your Ontario facility runs commercial HVAC and you’re not enrolled in demand response, you’re leaving real money on the table — and that gap just got a lot bigger.

The Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO), through its Save on Energy initiative, has launched the Peak Performance Program — a new demand-response stream specifically designed for commercial and institutional buildings to curtail HVAC loads during summer peak-demand periods. The program targets 100 MW of curtailment capacity in 2026, scaling to 230 MW in 2027, and it’s offering some of the most attractive DR rates we’ve seen in Ontario in years.

This post breaks down who qualifies, how the money works, what happens on event days, and what your operations team needs to have in place before June 1.

Who Is This Program For?

The Peak Performance Program is built specifically for Class B commercial and institutional customers in Ontario — think office towers, shopping centers, universities, hospitals, municipal buildings, and large retail chains. Unlike traditional DR programs that are open to any large load, this one is explicitly HVAC-focused. The IESO wants air conditioning, not just any curtailable load.

At least 75% of your curtailment must come from HVAC — the remaining 25% can come from lighting, process loads, or behind-the-meter batteries.

Who Cannot Participate

Class A customers enrolled under the Industrial Conservation Initiative (ICI), facilities already holding capacity through the IESO Capacity Auction, and any site with fossil-fuel generation are excluded from this program. If your facility currently manages peak demand through ICI to reduce Global Adjustment costs, this is a separate and incompatible stream.

End-use facilities/contributors don’t register directly with IESO — they work through a Participant, such as Edgecom Energy, who manages enrollment, metering, dispatch, and settlement on your behalf.

The Numbers: How Much Can You Earn?

There are two payment components under the Peak Performance Program, and together they can add up quickly for facilities with meaningful HVAC loads.

1. Performance Incentive (Seasonal Capacity Payment)

This is the primary revenue stream. It’s calculated on your average curtailment across your best-performing events of the season — with some allowance built in to drop your worst days.

Performance Incentive = Rate x Average MW Curtailed
2026 Rate: $54,845.40 / MW-season
Example: Facility curtails avg. 2.5 MW across qualifying events → $54,845.40 x 2.5 = $137,113.50

The rate is informed by the IESO Capacity Auction clearing price — so it reflects actual grid scarcity value. For 2026, that number is meaningful.

2. Enabling Incentive (One-Time Capital Offset)

If you need to purchase new equipment or services to participate — an upgraded BAS controller, sub-meters, or automation software — the program offers a one-time incentive to offset those costs.

Enabling Incentive = $20,000/MW x Average MW Curtailed
Example: Same 2.5 MW curtailment → $20,000 x 2.5 = $50,000
Combined potential (2.5 MW): $137,113 + $50,000 = $187,113

Key Condition

The Enabling Incentive requires that equipment invoices, installation records, and commissioning documentation all be dated before October 1, 2026. It can only be received once per facility contributor — plan accordingly if you’re upgrading incrementally.

Payments are issued within 30 business days of data verification, which typically lands in late November or December — a meaningful budget line for fiscal year-end planning.

What Actually Happens on Event Days?

Understanding the operational mechanics is critical — both for your energy and facilities teams and for anyone making the case to operations leadership about program participation.

Events are called during the summer season, which runs June 1 through September 30, 2026, on business days only. The typical event window is 3:00–7:00 PM ET, with each event lasting up to three hours. Up to 12 events can be called per season.

Notification timing is important:

• Standby Notice: Issued the day before, by 12:00 PM ET. Your team needs to flag this and alert facility managers.
• Activation Notice: Issued on the day of the event, also by 12:00 PM ET. Curtailment begins when directed by your Participant.

In practical terms, this means your operations team needs a reliable communication protocol — with backups — to receive notices, confirm receipt, and execute HVAC setpoint changes or pre-cooling strategies in time. Most well-run facilities handle this through their Building Automation System (BAS) or Energy Management System (EMS). Edgecom’s platform can automate dispatch for eligible facilities.

Pre-Cooling Strategy

Many commercial buildings achieve better curtailment performance — and better occupant comfort — by pre-cooling aggressively in the 2–3 hours before an event window. By banking thermal mass before 3 PM, you can reduce or eliminate HVAC during the peak window without noticeable temperature drift in occupied spaces. This is a well-established tactic in DR management and worth building into your summer playbook now.

The Event Allowance: Your Safety Net

One of the more operator-friendly features of this program is the built-in performance allowance. Not every event goes perfectly — equipment malfunctions, scheduling conflicts, and occupancy surprises happen. IESO recognizes this.

Your worst-performing events are excluded from the seasonal average calculation:

If 12 events are called, your two lowest-performing events are dropped and your incentive is calculated on the top 10. This creates meaningful protection for facilities where one or two events are disrupted by operational realities.

Mid-Season Enrollment Risk

Facilities that enroll mid-season are recorded as 0 MW curtailment for any events called before their start date. The event allowance can absorb a few zeros, but if you join in August with six events already called, those zeros meaningfully drag down your seasonal average — and your payout. Apply by May 14, 2026 to participate from Day 1 of the season.

How Curtailment Is Measured: The Baseline Methodology

This is where a lot of facilities get caught off guard. Your payment isn’t simply based on how low your consumption drops — it’s based on how far you deviate from a calculated weather-adjusted baseline. Understanding this methodology helps you plan curtailment strategies that maximize your measured savings.

Here’s how IESO calculates your baseline for each event:

1. Identify Eligible Reference Days: IESO pulls interval data from the 45 days before and 30 days after the event. Weekends, holidays, prior event days, and seasonal closures are removed from the candidate pool.
2. Match by Temperature: Each eligible day’s maximum temperature is compared to the event day’s maximum temperature using a representative weather station. The four days with the smallest temperature difference become your baseline reference days.
3. Build the Unadjusted Baseline: Average hourly consumption across those four reference days becomes your unadjusted baseline — what the model expects your facility would consume absent curtailment, on a day with similar weather.
4. Apply the Same-Day Adjustment: A pre-event adjustment factor is calculated using the two hours immediately before the event window (with a buffer). This scales the baseline up or down based on how your actual load compares to reference days. The factor is capped between 0.71 and 1.40 to prevent gaming.
5. Calculate Peak Demand Savings: Your measured curtailment = the adjusted baseline minus your actual event-hour load, averaged across the event duration. This is your reported Peak Demand Savings for that event.

Data Submission Requirements

Interval data must be submitted as CSV, in 15-minute intervals (96 rows/day), measured in kWh to 3 decimal places, in EST from 00:15 to 24:00. Gap-fill must stay under 1% — beyond that threshold, your Participant may de-rate your reported savings. Getting your metering and data pipeline right before the season starts is non-negotiable.

A Real Example: What the Numbers Look Like in Practice

Worked Example — Mid-Season Enrollment, 10 Events Called

A large office complex in the GTA enrolls in August. Six events were already called in June and July — recorded as 0 MW for this facility. The remaining four events during their enrollment show curtailment of 5, 10, 8, and 6 MW, respectively.

Events: 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0 (pre-enrollment) + 5, 10, 8, 6 MW
Drop 2 lowest zeros: Top 8 = 0+0+0+0+5+10+8+6 = 29 MW
Average = 29 / 8 = 3.625 MW
Performance: $54,845.40 x 3.625 = $198,814.58
Enabling (new BAS controllers): $20,000 x 3.625 = $72,500
Total Estimated Payment: $271,314.58

Had this facility been enrolled from the start of the season and achieved consistent curtailment across all 10 events, the payout would have been substantially higher. This is why early enrollment matters — and why your aggregator should be pushing to get you registered well before June 1.

What You Need to Have in Place

Running a DR program isn’t just about signing up and hoping for the best on event days. Facilities that maximize their earnings treat this like any other operational program — with planning, process, and accountability. Here’s what needs to be in place:

• BAS or EMS with remote or automated curtailment capability. Manual override works too, but you need a clear protocol and confirmed staff availability during the 3–7 PM window on event days.
• LDC interval metering at minimum. Sub-metering at the HVAC level is strongly recommended — it gives you and your Participant visibility into actual curtailment performance in real time.
• A clear communication chain. Standby and activation notices arrive by noon. Your team — or your Participant — needs to receive, confirm, and act on these with zero ambiguity. Document your escalation path and backups now.
• A data pipeline that works. 15-minute interval data needs to flow from your meter to your Participant cleanly, with less than 1% gap-fill. If your current metering setup can’t reliably deliver this, address it before the season starts.
• 7-year record retention. All event-day data, curtailment records, and enabling incentive documentation must be held for seven years. Set up your recordkeeping system before you go live.
• Enabling Incentive documentation ready. If you’re claiming the $20,000/MW incentive, every invoice and commissioning record must be dated before October 1, 2026. Don’t let the paperwork slip.

Key Dates to Bookmark Now

The Bottom Line for Facility and Operations Leaders

The Peak Performance Program is genuinely well-designed. The weather-adjusted baseline protects you from being penalized on hot days when your HVAC is working harder regardless. The event allowance gives you a buffer for the days things don’t go perfectly. And the enabling incentive makes it easier for facilities that haven’t invested in automation or sub-metering to get there without absorbing the full capital cost upfront.

That said, this program rewards preparation. The facilities that perform well in summer DR programs are the ones that have already done the work in May — metering confirmed, communication protocols tested, BAS setpoints mapped, and operations staff briefed. If that sounds like your facility, you’re ready to register.

If it doesn’t — or if you’re not sure — that’s exactly the conversation to have with your energy management partner now, not in July.

Ready to enroll before the May 14 deadline?

Edgecom Energy is a registered aggregator for IESO demand response programs in Ontario. We handle enrollment, metering, dispatch, and settlement — so your team can focus on operations. Contact us to talk to one of our DR experts.