Ontario consumers will pay less to heat their homes by natural gas as of April 1, 2015.

For a typical residential customer, the annual savings could translate to as much as $100.

The Ontario Energy Board earlier approved a 10-per-cent cut to Enbridge Gas rates.

“The decrease is due to lower natural gas prices. Gas supply costs are passed through to customers without any mark-up - they pay what we pay." stated Jamie Leblanc, Director of Energy Supply and Policy at Endbridge.

Leblanc made that statement during Enbridge’s application to the OEB.

The decrease follows a January 2015 rate increase which added about $65 dollars to an average bill.

Rate applications are summited to the OEB every three months.

Here are some other changes effective April 1, 2015

  • Door to Door water heater crackdown.

    The Ontario government has introduced tougher new rules to protect consumers against high pressure sales people.

    The Consumer Protection Act will now ban delivery and installation of water heaters during a 20 day cooling off period.
  • New Ontario Training requirements for Construction workers.

    The new rules will make training mandatory for construction workers who work at high heights.

    The new rules are designed to cut down on the number of falls.

    In 2013, 21 construction workers in Ontario died on the job. Almost half were caused by falls.
  • Retired Federal Public Servants to pay higher premiums

    As of April 1, 2015, retired federal public servants will have to pay more for health benefits. The federal government is moving to a 50:50 model over a four year period.

    As of April 1st, the employees contribution will rise to 31.25%.

    The federal government says the changes will result in savings of $6.7 billion over six years.

    Opposition critics say the formula change will make it tougher on retired federal servants who are already struggling on fixed incomes.