Utility committee Chair Alison Van Dyke (left) said a program approved Tuesday to immediately offer city gas and power customers a retroactive month of lower "fixed rate" commodity pricing is a good short-term remedy for Hatters facing high bills. Also pictured is Coun. Shila Sharps. -- News Photo Collin Gallant
cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant
A utility bill relief package approved by council Tuesday is designed to steer Hatters toward fixed rate commodity pricing and further discount energy audits meant to help them reduce their use.
The program, approved at Tuesday’s city council meeting, comes after utility bills spiked for both natural gas and power during long-spells this winter, leading to general call for relief from the city-owned utility. Councillors in turn called for design options to shelter residents facing high bills.
The raft of measures would provide one month of retroactive fixed-rate pricing (equal to a half-price of power consumption in the January billing period, though much less on gas) for those who sign onto the rates for the minimum six-month period.
It would also further discount home energy audits and waive late penalties last month and other fees.
Utility chair Alison Van Dyke said the items are productive and the changes themselves are geared to rewarding greater conservation.
“I heard from a lot of residents and there’s an amount of shock out there,” she told council, stating committee approved three plans of action. Two were a better explanation for how fees are set, which appeared on the city’s website this month,, as well as the options presented on Tuesday.
“The broader look at how fees are set is a longer-term policy discussion that can’t be done in the short term, but it will come back in the future.”
The city’s utility department has offered a “fixed,” rather than monthly variable rate, for years, but they only became popular in 2019 when power prices rose well above generally depressed prices and gas rose steeply this year.
About 12,000 power customers signed on for the minium six-month term, but now, any “variable rate” customer could join and get the difference from January’s rate applied as a credit to their next bill.
In total, 17,000 customers would be eligible, and if all signed up for both gas and power, the total cost would be $2.2 million.
Power is at an all-time high of 16-cents per kilowatt hour in January, compared to a fixed rate price of 8 cents.
Gas presents a trickier calculation, corporate services managing director Dennis Egert, told the News, since the variable rate in January was less expensive than the fixed rate of $4.35, but residents should fully explore their options.
City analysis states that four out of five utility bills in January 2022 were 20 per cent or more above bills in January 2021.
Those customers would be eligible for an additional $100 credit toward a home energy efficiency survey of their property. (The city’s HatSmart program already provides a $400 rebate for the Energuide study, leaving the out-of pocket cost at a total of $75).
The package would also waive penalties on unpaid fees last month (a potential loss of $49,000 in income), disconnect notice fees for potentially 800 customers ($16,000) and other minor fees ($2,000).
Coun. Robert Dumanowski said the items are “all reasonable and fair, and the total could be in the millions, so it’s not insignificant.”
However, he argued, council has now provided direct rebates ostensibly to help Hatters through hard times in three consecutive years.
“You don’t want to build an expectation – which sounds really selfish — but we’ve had years (in the utility) when revenue drops. We’ve all seen it.”
Staff note in the rationale that fixed prices are set on a cost-plus-profit model, which must be covered to keep the utility department financially sound.
Other councillors said more should be done in the short term to help.
“These conversations happen year after year,” said Coun. Ramona Robbins.
“In my mind they don’t go far enough… and I would like to see them go further for the least fortunate.”
Coun. Allison Knodel said that she became aware of the fixed-rate option last year and signed on.
“It’s hasn’t saved me completely (from rising bills) but it saved me some money,” she told council.
