Condo owners upset over missing out on utility rebate

By COLLIN GALLANT on July 5, 2022.

cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant

Condo owners in Medicine Hat say they’ve been unfairly left out of a provincial rebate plan meant to offset the rising cost of utilities this year.

Power bills in July will feature the first of three $50 monthly credits provided by the Government of Alberta as a way to ease high utility prices in 2022.

That happens automatically, but the measure is limited to homes and small businesses that used less than a certain amount of power (250 megawatts) during the previous year.

“They obviously weren’t thinking of how this would apply to condos,” said Ron Noel, condo manager at Fairway Village in Medicine Hat, who says his members won’t see any benefit of the program since there’s a common connection point and common bill for all units throughout the building.

That rolls into condo fees, and the cumulative total is well above the refund limit, he said. Even though its comprised of power use by singles, seniors and families.

“We feel like we’ve been disenfranchised,” said Noel, who is also president of the Medicine Hat Condominium Association.

That comprises condo corporations with a total of 2,000 local units. There are about 440,000 condominium residences in Alberta, said Noel.

“This is taxpayer funds that are being used and we’re all taxpayers that don’t have access to it (the program).”

The power rebate program, announced in April but finalized last month, would see $50 credits added to residential bills for each of the next three months.

That occurs with no registration required to homeowners and commercial customers who meet the criteria.

Late last week the province released details of a similar program for natural gas that would essentially cap the price of natural gas starting in October for the amount over $6.50. That will be in place until March 2023.

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