Districts pushing for utility relief
Two more local governments in the Okanagan have wired into a campaign to secure a BC Hydrostyle relief effort for the 5% of the province not serviced by the Crown corporation.
In its support letter, a copy of which was made public Friday, the Regional District of OkanaganSimilkameen calls on Premier John Horgan to ensure all British Columbians who have been hit hard by COVID-19 can get some help with their power bills.
“The RDOS would propose that the province provide a one-time subsidy to all electrical utilities, including FortisBC, which provides service to most of our residents,” RDOS chairwoman Karla Kozakevich writes in the letter.
“This subsidy is required in order to offer an equivalent program to that offered (by) BC Hydro so all small business and residential customers across the province, regardless of their location, are treated equally.”
What BC Hydro is offering is up to three months of free power to residential customers and their partners who lost a job as a result of COVID-19. The same offer is available to owners of small businesses who have had to close their doors.
The rest of the province, including the South Okanagan and Kelowna, is served by municipally owned power utilities or FortisBC, which is offering payment deferrals only.
Local politicians want the B.C. government to underwrite the full cost of the program, because non-BC Hydro customers may end up paying for it anyway, as BC Hydro will pass on the cost of the lost revenue to its customers, which include FortisBC.
The campaign was launched last week by the City of Penticton, which is offering all residents a 10% discount on their utility bills, unless the province comes to the table with the more generous, targetted aid package.
Municipal councils in Oliver and Grand Forks have also sent the premier letters of their own. Kelowna council has not yet had a chance to discuss the issue, city spokesman Tom Wilson said Friday.
Horgan’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment this week. Instead, it passed on the request to the Energy Ministry, which replied with an unsigned statement that didn’t address Penticton’s request, but rather listed some of the other COVID-19 aid available to local governments.
Penticton, Summerland, Nelson, Grand Forks and New Westminster are the five B.C. communities that operate their own power utilities.