Electricity costs continue to rise as natural gas falls back

By MEDICINE HAT NEWS on December 2, 2021.

https://www.medicinehatnews.com@MedicineHatNews

Natural gas prices have fallen back for December, but power rates have reached a near decade-long high.

Electricity rates for the month rose to 13.2 cents per kilowatt hour.

That is about 30% higher than November and stands as the highest rate for power in the city since February 2012.

Rates published by the city’s utility department on Wednesday also show natural gas for home and small to medium businesses will cost $4.72 per gigajoule, down about 56 cents from the previous month.

That gas rate is also much higher than in recent years after analysts say production that heavily depends on oil pricing fell off during the pandemic, and pricing rose across Alberta ahead of colder winter months.

Power prices are running almost twice as much as most of 2020 and continued to rise after a hot summer strained production.

Medicine Hat sets its floating rates at the average of default rates offered across the province.

Comparable prices for gas were $4.65 from Apex Utilities and $4.94 from Direct Energy.

The low and high power prices were 11.97 cents from Enmax and 13.18 cents from Epcor in its rural region.

The City of Medicine Hat offers a set rate to customers of 6.8 cents for power and $3.50 for gas for customers than sign on for a minimum of six months.

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