September will see slight changes to local utility costs
By Medicine Hat News on September 4, 2024.
@MedicineHatNews Power and gas rates in Medicine Hat will fluctuate slightly in September, the city utility department announced Tuesday. Gas falls below already low rates in August as prices on the provincial system continue to soften, while a set, three-month price for power changes by one-fifth of a cent to account for a cost recovery program. Electricity used this month in Medicine Hat will be charged at 7.952 cents per kilowatt hour, up from 7.7 cents in August. The new gas rate of 83.5 cents per gigajoule is down from 91.2 in August. The city’s rate calculations were changed in late 2023 from averaging default rates in the rest of the province to the forecast price of wholesale power in Alberta and the actual costs of gas purchasing by the city, plus a 7-cent premium. For the third quarter, the city states the forecast wholesale average is about 5.7 cents, but a floor price of 7 cents is in effect. To that, 0.95 cents is added to recover costs of a consumer deferral program in early 2023. Elsewhere in the province, the all-in average default rates for September range from 10.1 cents per kilowatt hour from Enmax, to 11.7 from Epcor in the Edmonton service area. Gas default rates are 83.9 cents from Apex Utilities and 84.8 from Direct Energy. Medicine Hat’s power price is next set to be updated for Oct.1 for the last quarter of the year based on the 12-month price forecast at that time. 11-10
