Power prices in July will hit their highest level in seven years, according to rates published Friday by the City of Medicine Hat's utility division.--NEWS FILE PHOTO
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Power prices will hit their highest levels in more than seven years this month, according to rates for July posted Friday.
Electricity for home and small to medium business use will be charged at 10.216-cents per kilowatt hour this month. That is up nearly 40 per cent from the floating rate in June and just above the last time the rate rose above 10 cents in March 2014.
Hot weather and high demand sent prices spiking on the Alberta electricity grid at the end of June, and default and even contract pricing across the province – on which local prices are based – include measures to recoup costs differences when forecasts fall short.
Medicine Hat sets its default commodity rate for power as the average default price offered in the province. For July, the highest of five comparable rates was 10.58 cents from Epcor in Edmonton and the low-rate was 9.77 cents from Direct Energy.
Medicine Hat offers a set-rate option of 6.8 cents, available for a minimum term of six months. Most profit from the city-owned power generation business comes from export sales, where prices reached their regulated maximum $1,000 per megawatt ($1 per kilowatt) for long stretches last week.
The Alberta Electric System Operator put out a call to conserve energy after demand reached a new summer record of 11,512 megawatts on June 29.
As well, natural gas prices also continue to rise, and will sit at $3.95 per gigajoule in Medicine Hat for July, though customer usage is expected to be very low.
The high price in Alberta was $4.902 per gigajoule offered by Apex, and the low was $3.028 offered by Direct Energy.
The local price is the highest price since a major cold snap in February caused a price correction in March.
Power production across the province is now weighted to gas-fired plants, creating higher than typical demand in summer months.
Power record in Saskatchewan
Crown power provider SaskPower says a new summer record has been set for electricity use in the province as a heat wave settled across that province on June 30.
Demand reached 3,543 megawatts that afternoon, beating the previous summer peak set in August 2018. The 19-megawatt difference is equivalent to enough power for 20,000 homes.
Saskatchewan’s all-time peak for power use is 3,792 megawatts, recorded in December 2017.
