B.C. hydro rates could decrease next year

The British Columbia government says BC Hydro customers could see their bills go down for the first time in decades as part of a smaller than anticipated five-year rate hike if approved by an independent regulator.

The Crown utility is applying to the B.C. Utilities Commission for approval and the commission is expected to make a decision early next year, Energy Minister Michelle Mungall said.

“For a lot of people, every dollar counts. So we take that seriously and we’re hoping we can deliver on this rate decrease and that the B.C. Utilities Commission will approve it,” she said Friday.

The proposal would see a rate decrease of 1 per cent in April 2020, an increase of 2.7 per cent in 2021, a decrease of 0.3 per cent in 2022, followed by an increase of 3 per cent in 2023.

That would mean an overall rate hike of 6.2 per cent over the next five years. That’s a drop from the 8 per cent announced by Mungall in February after a report found customers would be on the hook for $16 billion over the next two decades.

That report, commissioned by the NDP government, found the former Liberal government manufactured an urgent need for electricity but restricted BC Hydro from producing it, forcing the utility to turn to private producers and sign long-term contracts at inflated prices.

The application is based on BC Hydro’s latest audited fiscal 2019 financial results and the most recent financial forecast.