FortisBC announces electrical rate relief

PENTICTON – Some relief from rising electrical rates as FortisBC announced today there will be no rate hike this year.

It’s the second year in a row for stable rates at FortisBC, as rates did not increase last year, the utility announced in a press release issued today, April 11.

The electric utility, which supplies power to customers in the Similkameen, parts of the Okanagan and the Kootenays, says customer growth and operational savings were factors that allowed the company to maintain rates this year.

“With this decision, our electric rates continue to be below average when compared to other cities across Canada, including Calgary, Toronto and Halifax, and that’s made the region attractive to emerging industries,” Vice-President of Regulatory Affairs, FortisBC Diane Roy says in the release.

Earlier this year, the B.C. Public Utilities Commission granted FortisBC approval to abandon the two-tiered residential conservation rate over the next five years.

The two-tiered rate, introduced in 2012, bumped up the cost of electricity for high consumption users, resulting in costly bills for many residents who had no other alternative to electrical power.

Anarchist Mountain Community Society, a South Okanagan community group headed by Nick Marty, led the charge to request Fortis phase out the rate immediately rather than over five years, but was unsuccessful.

The return to a single rate could result in a small adjustment to residential rates later this year, utility corporate communications advisor Nicole Brown says.

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