NEWS PHOTO GILLIAN SLADE Jaret Dickie, manager of utilities business support for the city, helps to explain the charges on your utility bill.
gslade@medicinehatnews.com@MHNGillianSlade
Since the price cap on electricity was removed by the provincial government there is a sense that the price is climbing fast. The city’s data indicates a rise, but not yet to the rates paid back in 2011.
Jaret Dickie, manager of business support for the utilities division, shares the annual average numbers for the last decade. The city establishes the rate each month and the following are the averages for each year:
In 2009 it was 7.879 cents, in 2010, 7.048. It jumped to a high of 9.605¢ in 2011 and then dropped a little to 9.483 in 2012. A decline began in 2013, with a low of 3.598¢ in 2017. It jumped up to 6.606¢ in 2018 and to 7.471 in 2019. This year in January it was 7.995¢ and in February, 8.315.
An electricity utility statement for June 2019 indicates the energy charges on the first 188 kWh consumption was 6.61¢. By March 2020 the rate had increased to 7.995.
If you look at your electric utility bill each charge is calculated at a specific rate or for a number of days. These are specified in the city’s bylaw with new rates established for each calendar year. (see link below)
The “municipal consent access fee” has generated some recent comment.
“It was a new untapped revenue source identified under Financially Fit,” said Dickie.
The land used to convey the electricity is not used for anything else, and if this land was provided to a company to supply electricity they would pay a fee or rent it, he explained.
If you compare a recent electricity bill with one a year ago and then 10 years ago, there are some differences. In the example used (see graphic), the consumption is different affecting the comparison.
The electricity charge on the 2019 bill was $15.22 for 229 kWh. The electricity charge on the 2020 bill was $17.54 for 218 kWh. In the 2010 comparison it was 125 kWh for $10.01.
What is now called the capacity charge was called a “system access charge” introduced in 2009, said Dickie.
You will notice the fee charged for recycling 10 years ago is now called “waste diversion.” This fee is less than it was 10 years ago. Dickie says the recent contract for recycling is less.
Fees for solid waste depend on whether you have curbside pickup or a large bin as in the case of condominiums. Even if you do not have curbside pickup for recycling, the fee covers the opportunity you have to recycle at bins such as those on Kipling Street.
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