Another 2,600 sign on to fixed power rates
By COLLIN GALLANT on March 11, 2022.
cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant More than 2,600 Hatters have taken advantage of an offer to retroactively apply cheaper, fixed electricity to their January bills and going forward, city councillors were told Thursday. Two weeks ago, city council approved the program in response to loud complaints from utility customers over high bills caused by record-high default prices and extremely cold weather. Corporate service division head administrator Dennis Egert updated that committee on Thursday, stating 2,640 utility accounts, equal to about 1 in 10 of all residential accounts, were added to the set pricing that the city is promoting as a way to avoid swings in utility costs. At the same time, the city will add additional rebates for utility customers that book energy audits toward boosting energy efficiency. Next week, the city will host a noon-hour virtual town hall to answer questions about gas and power pricing. “It will be the first time that we’re hosting such a town hall,” sad Egert. “We’ll regroup afterwards and see if there are more opportunities. We’re excited about it.” About 45 per cent of all power customers are now signed on to the fixed rate of 8-cents for at least six months, after which they may switch back if they so choose. Considering the difference of about 8-cents per kilowatt hour between fixed and floating rates and average residential use of 500 KWH or more in a month, the average discount would total about $40. Since Feb. 25, when council approved the retroactive pricing plan, about 320 gas accounts also switched to fixed-prices. That brings the percentage of customers on the set price of $4.35 per gigajoule for 2022 to about 40 per cent. 11-10
