Retail power prices in Alberta remain slightly above a consumer price cap for October, meaning that City of Medicine Hat ratepayers will pay 6.8 cents per kilowatt hour this month, while natural gas pries rise slightly.
Rates posted by the publicly owned utility company in Medicine Hat on Tuesday are developed by calculating the average cost of the commodity offered across the province.
This month that calculation for the market’s power price arrives at 7.05 cents, but only the capped portion is applied to bills and the remainder paid directly to generators by the government from Carbon Levy funds.
Alberta Energy has stated it will evaluate the cap program this fall considering that the Carbon Levy was abolished following the spring election.
October marks the fourth straight month that the cap has been activated.
The comparative high and low prices for October are 7.35 cents for Epcor’s Edmonton customers, and 6.74 cents from Enmax.
Natural gas for homes and small to medium businesses in Medicine Hat will move up to $1.51 per gigajoule in October over the previous month’s rate of $1.30.
Comparable prices for October are $1.45 from Direct Energy and $1.57 from AltaGas Utilities.
