LONDON, Ont. — Ontario's energy minister says that within the next two years most electricity and natural gas customers will get access to their usage data to help them save on their bills.

Todd Smith announced Monday that the province will require nearly all regulated Ontario electricity and natural gas utilities to enact the Green Button standard in 24 months.

That lets customers download their natural gas and hourly electricity data and authorize its transfer to apps that can analyze it and provide tips to reduce consumption and save money.

Smith says Ontario will become the first province in Canada to mandate the standard.

Green Button became available in 2012, but has not been mandatory.

London Hydro was the first Ontario utility to provide the data in 2015, and since then 160,000 electricity customers have used it.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 1, 2021.

The Canadian Press