The city is now working with local condo associations to ensure they are included in the recent cost-relief program approved by council.--NEWS FILE PHOTO
cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant
City billing officials are now engaging condo associations in Medicine Hat to extend a “cost-pressure relief” program to individual unit owners who pay bills via their condo fees, officials tell the News.
That program, passed last, week provides $800 over the next three months to residential – $2,000 for businesses – utility account holders on their bills.
City officials told the News on Friday that finance officials are now determining the number of units in each complex, and will apply a cumulative single payment onto the building’s account.
Civic officials also state that condo associations, which are governed by boards elected by members, are responsible to determine how to apply the credits, either on to utility amounts that are typically paid via condo fees, or some other style of distribution.
Medicine Hat Condo Association president Ron Noel told the News previously that condos had been essentially penalized under provincial rebates last winter when only one payment of $50 to $100 was applied to complexes with 100 or more units.
All City of Medicine Hat power bills mailed after the end of the Sept. 18 billing period will see an initial payment of $400 for residences, or $1,000 for business accounts, then half those amounts on two subsequent bills.
Thursday’s meeting of the corporate services committee heard that program, totalling $33.1 million, is now being folded into the billing system.
Division head Dennis Egert said the use of the billing system as opposed to direct payments will avoid added costs.
“We already have a mechanism in place to get credits to people that’s very efficient (with utility accounts),” he told the committee, citing the cost to produce and mail a single cheque is about $2.
The program covers 36,000 utility account holders, which would total $72,000, if direct payments were made.
Contracts popular
About 4,400 Hatters signed fixed-rate power contracts in September after major controversy erupted this summer over electricity costs, figures show.
Corporate services division staff told committee members that the share of customers on the fixed rate is now 45 per cent, up from 33 cited at council’s Sept. 4 meeting when rates were discussed.
That comes after Hatters petitioned council to change rate policies that saw customers revert to a default price, set at 30.5 cents per kilowatt hour, when contracts expired. The current fixed-rate offering is 16.9 cents for 12 months.
Utility officials are preparing a “best in market” rate for council’s approval, likely in early October.
Call volumes rise
The city’s customer service agents dealt with an influx of inquires in August, Egert said during a general updates portion of the meeting.
“It was triple the volume, and also the time spent on each call increased,” he said, adding that utility inquiries were likely behind the difference. “Our people are really working hard to get information to customers.”
The department logged 13,000 calls during the month, compared to 4,700 in August 2022, while the average time on each call rose to 20 minutes, up from the long-term average of four minutes.
