Letter: Utility rates climbing needlessly high

By Letter to the Editor on January 25, 2022.

Dear editor,

For more than 100 years, the City of Medicine Hat set the rates at which it charged utility customers by an in-house calculation. For being owners of the national gas fields, power plant and delivery systems, Medicine Hat residents paid the lowest monthly utility rates in the province and that was known as the “Medicine Hat Advantage.”

The intent was to charge a reasonable price based on the cost of production and delivery plus a reasonable profit for re-investment in the industry. That all changed a number of years ago when the powers that be at City Hall decided that utility rates would be charged at the average price charged by other suppliers of natural gas and electricity in Alberta; some private companies, profit driven. It seemed somewhat reasonable because to provide all the services residents demand, the city must get the money – either from your left-hand pocket or your right-hand pocket. Having said that, I’m sure that most users of city utilities were shocked at their latest utility bill, which in many cases, was roughly 50 per cent higher than their highest billing ever.

It would seem high time for the city to re-evaluate the method used to price the said product to the end users.

If going back to the “old system” isn’t an option (apparently natural gas is a losing proposition for the city whereas years ago it provided a $90-million annual profit), then why not switch to the lowest provincial price instead of the average? Further, if money is still being stashed away for future generations, that fund is more than high enough. Many of the present generation are in need of a break now! Or is the present fee system just another tax grab?

John MacLaren

Medicine Hat

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