Medicine Hat News
The price of natural gas will rise slightly in September while the cost of power remains above a cap imposed by the provincial government.
Utility consumers will see the capped rate of 6.8 cents per kilowatt hour, while the difference left in a market calculation of 8.05-cents will be made up from provincial carbon levy funds.
It’s the third straight month and fourth time this year that the price-setting by the utility sector has gone above the provincial cap, set in 2017 at the previous 10-year average price for power.
Medicine Hat sets its power commodity rate at the average of other regulated rates. For September that includes prices ranging from 8.472 cents from Direct Energy to Epcor’s 7.636.
That returns a figure of 8.05 cents per kilowatt hour in Medicine Hat.
The 6.8-cent cap was previously invoked locally in April (8.21-cent market price), July (7.969) and August (8.660).
Natural gas for heating homes and businesses also rose slightly in the month from prolonged lows.
The local rate will be $1.12 per gigajoule, up about seven cents from August. The high-price in the province, $1.321, is from Direct Energy, while AltaGas customers will pay a rate of 91.9-cents.
