Electricity rebate coming `as quickly as possible,' Epcor says

Government under fire for allowing energy firms to hold cash until Dec. 31

Epcor customers will find out in the coming weeks when electricity rebates will land in their accounts, even as Alberta's government faces criticism over regulations allowing companies until December to get the money doled out.

Bill 18, the Utilities Commodity Rebate Act, received royal assent last week. Corresponding regulations laying out the details of a program that will give most Albertans three monthly $50 electricity rebates for a total of $150 were published online Wednesday evening.

Associate minister of natural gas and electricity Dale Nally has said that he hoped utility retailers would be able to send the money out in June or July. The new regulations require only that all the money be provided by electricity companies no later than Dec. 31, 2022.

NDP Leader Rachel Notley, whose party wanted the government to commit to a May 31 deadline, said the government needs to stop making struggling Albertans wait for the money.

“The UCP removed the cap on electricity prices that our government had originally put in place and then did nothing while prices soared,” she said.

“Under pressure, the UCP eventually promised some electricity rebates, but they somehow cannot get their act together to send a $50 rebate inside of a year.”

Heading into the Legislature Thursday, Nally told reporters he still expects most Albertans will get their rebates this summer but that the government wanted to cover a longer period in the regulations so that everyone who qualifies for a rebate will get one.

“We're getting this rebate out to 1.9 million Albertans and while the vast majority of that will be given out sooner as opposed to later, we have no doubt that there will be the occasional person who has moved or for whatever reason there's a problem,” he said.

“So we wanted to cast the net wide to make sure that whoever qualifies will absolutely get this rebate.”

For its part, Epcor said in a statement Thursday that it is finalizing the necessary preparations to distribute the money “as quickly as possible” and will be “communicating the timing to our customers in the coming weeks.”

“We have delivered similar programs on behalf of the Government of Alberta in the past, and we will repeat those efforts and continue to collaborate with the government and the provincial regulator,” the statement says.

Nally said the $50-a-month rebate represents the average amount Albertans' bills went up during last January, February and March and that everyone covered will get the $50, even if their monthly bill is less than that.

The regulations also say that a customer whose electricity has since been disconnected for nonpayment is still eligible for the rebate as long as they had power during the months in question.

Details of Alberta's promised natural gas rebate were not part of the regulations released Wednesday.

The government originally said rebates will kick in if regulated natural gas rates exceed $6.50 per gigajoule between Oct. 1, 2022, and March 31, 2023. Prices have since blown past that point — sitting at $8.32 yesterday. Premier Jason Kenney and Finance Minister Travis Toews have both hinted that rebates could be brought in sooner.

Nally said Thursday that 80 per cent of natural gas usage happens between October and March 31.

“So it's important that we save our gunpowder for when it's needed. However, if things change and we need to act, we've demonstrated that we will and that hasn't changed,” he said.

Notley pushed for Nally to make the natural gas rebates available to Albertans immediately.

“These days, delays are just unacceptable. Families need real help real quick.”