City Notebook: Econ devo: Two words too long for a headline

By MEDICINE HAT NEWS on January 28, 2023.

https://www.medicinehatnews.com@MedicineHatNews

Economic development is the worst possible thing to fit into a headline, but, increasingly, it’s headline news.

Those two four-syllable words have underpinned most local political campaigns in the last decade. We’re bound to hear about the local economic outlook during a provincial election this spring.

The recent State of the City address was the 10th in a row when attendees saw “improving the financial economy” as a takeaway, despite Mayor Linnsie Clark’s best effort to redefine economy to include social and environmental wellness.

Soon, Hatters are to hear about new plans to reboot economic development efforts with the region in mind. A raft of plans are to be developed this year. An economic symposium is already in the books. The vaguely described “Strong Towns Community Action Lab” will be upon us in mere weeks.

We’ll be hearing those eight syllables a lot in the next little while. But will Hatters like what they hear?

How to read your bill

OK, there a bunch of moving parts in the quest to understand utility pricing in Alberta today, but it’s actually quite simple to figure out your relative cost or savings.

1.) Get your bill;

2.) Figure out how much gas or power you used (it’s in brackets on the Page 1 list of “Current Charges”);

3.) Multiply those numbers by the different rates (default, fixed, etc.);

4.) Compare;

5.) Don’t get side-tracked or confused by weird, opaque legal or technical terms.

A practical example comes from the Gallant household.

We used about 500 kilowatt hours (concentrate, remember) in December, and paid 8 cents per kWh. That’s $40.

Using Alberta’s capped price on the default rate it would be 13.5 cents times 500, or $67.50.

Without the provincial deferral program, the default price is 28.6 cents, and the total is $143.

The city’s fixed price on contracts signed after Jan. 1 is 17.7-cents, or $88.50 in the end, but you have to take that price for 12 months.

Another way to look at it is every penny’s difference in rates is eventually worth about $5.

For gas, the 2022 lock-in price was $4.35 per gigajoule, the January default price $6.12, and the fixed rate for a new 12-month contract is $6.61.

Be sure to show your work.

Comings and goings

Brian Mastel’s last day as the head of city hall’s public services division was Friday, about 11 years after he joined the city as general manager of the finance department.

“It’s been a tremendous past decade of my life, coming into municipal government … and the breadth of work at this municipality is like no other,” Mastel told council on Jan. 23.

“The last 10 years have been quite a decade when I reflect on it. and I expect the next 10 to be similar in terms of transformation in this community.”

Mastel, who grew up in the area, says he is remaining in the city with a new career opportunity that’s mum for now.

Quick ones

– The search for a new general manager for the Medicine Hat Stampede has begun, a classified ad tells us. A new assistant GM would initially help Rod Edwards, who took on the top role in a pinch some time ago.

– The balcony seats were opened and sold out for the Tiger’s Feb. 5 game against the Regina Pats at Co-op Place as hockey fans no doubt are champing to boo (or not) super-prospect Connor Bedard. The Tabbies face the Pats in Regina on this weekend.

– Something else for nostalgia fans (other than a packed hockey rink), CHAT TV is now re-running the popular “Our Town” historical feature from Brian Konrad, himself a favourite in our town.

A look ahead

It’s Groundhog Day on Thursday. A public auction process to dispose of the Saskatchewan Liquor Board operations begins Feb. 6.

100 years ago

First the Redcliff Gas Fields, now Redcliff Industries? Such was the insult reported by the News on Jan. 23, 1923.

Calgary Light, Heat and Power, which had secured the gas fields over the City of Medicine Hat’s protestations in the summer, would finalize the agreement with Dominion Glass as a customer, as that city’s council sent delegates directly to Montreal to finalize a deal with company.

A man in Iowa supposedly became his own grandfather, it was reported, after his wife gave birth to a son shortly after her own grown daughter was wedded to the man’s father.

The family tree “veritable jumble”of Peter Linsky, 23, was also a father-in-law to his mother-in-law.

Collin Gallant covers city politics and a variety of topics for the News. Reach him at 403-528-5664 or via email at cgallant@medicinehatnews.com