Natural gas bill to rise this fall

Average FortisBC customer expected to pay additional $82 per year

FortisBC natural gas customers will pay an average of $82 more a year with rate hikes that start Oct. 1.

The utility received approval from the B.C. Utilities Commission to increase the cost of a gigajoule of natural gas to $2.05 from $1.14 — a boost of almost 80 per cent.

However, the per-gigajoule cost of gas makes up only a portion of people’s FortisBC bills, so the actual rise in monthly bills isn’t as dramatic.

Some of the other costs on your FortisBC natural gas bill include a fixed daily basic charge and delivery, storage and transportation costs, which won’t go up on Oct. 1.

The $82-more-a-year estimate for the average natural gas bill is based on the average household consumption of 90 gigajoules over 12 months.

Currently, the average customer using 90 gigajoules a year paid a total of $689 annually.

The new rates will put the average annual bill up to $771 — an increase of 12 per cent, or $7 a month.

FortisBC is quick to point out it does not mark up the cost of natural gas when passing it along to customers.

“Customers pay what we pay,” said FortisBC manager of corporate communications Michael Allison.

“And the cost of natural gas can only go up when the cost of the commodity goes up and the provincial government regulator gives approval.”

FortisBC makes its money by marking up the delivery cost of natural gas to customers.

“Natural gas prices have risen since spring 2016,” said FortisBC vice-president Dennis Swanson.

“The hotter-than-normal summer, for most of Canada and the U.S., has resulted in higher-than-expected continental demand for electricity, which is often generated by natural gas. This, combined with a slowdown in natural gas production, has led to an increase in prices during the past few months.”

Besides natural gas used to generate electricity, most local customers use natural gas for home heating, water heating, fireplaces, ovens and stovetops. FortisBC has a separate utility to deliver electricity. Despite the escalation in natural gas costs this year, commodity prices for the resource remain historically low and customers are paying some of the lowest rates in a decade. However, FortisBC still preaches conservation. “As we approach the winter heating season, we encourage our customers to continue using energy wisely to help keep costs down,” added Swanson.

FortisBC has 1.1 million customers in 135 communities for natural gas, electricity and propane.