Provincial power rates will rise; no local adjustment until Jan. 1

By Medicine Hat News on November 30, 2024.

@MedicineHatNews

Power prices will rise in Alberta to start December based on “rate of last resort” filings by major distributors, though Medicine Hat’s rates are next set for quarterly adjustment on Jan. 1.

The city bases rates for all residential and small to medium commercial accounts on a rolling wholesale average price recorded on the Alberta grid.

Since the summer that has been below a 7 cents per kilowatt hour floor price that is part of an interim price-setting formula adopted last fall.

Four major default rates elsewhere in the province will rise to an average of 9 cents on Dec. 1, according to submissions to the Alberta Utilities Commission from Epcor, Enmax and Direct Energy. Combined with a payback requirement from a government rate deferral program in early 2023, the average default price in the province will be 11.6 cents per kilowatt hour next month.

The city’s deferral repayment charge typically adds less than one cent to the usage rate. The local combined price in November was 7.97 cents per kilowatt hour.

The city will also announce a local monthly natural gas rate on Dec. 1 based on the cost of gas purchased for resale and a 7-cent premium.

The major default rates in the province for December will be $1.92 per gigajoule from Apex, and $2.12 from Direct Energy. The rate in the Hat in November is $1.86.

9
-8