Over the summer, we saw incredible spikes in our utility bills as power usage went up with the temperature. Now that usage is going up again with the cold winter weather, I felt it was important to comment on the topic. Despite what some say, the federal carbon tax is not the reason for our higher bills. In fact, the tax doesn’t even apply to Alberta’s electricity generation.
Calgarians are uniquely susceptible to those spikes because the local access fee on your bill is tied to the price of electricity. As one goes up and down, so does the other. This is set up by the city and has been in place since the early 1990s. Then there’s the price of the electricity itself. When the NDP were in government, customers on the regulated rate option (RRO) had their price capped at 6.8 cents per kilowatt hour. In 2019, the UCP government removed that cap. That, plus a few other factors, led to the price increasing to anywhere between 22 and 30 cents per kilowatt hour. That’s how bills got to be four times higher than they were before. Some measures to reduce the cost of electricity were mentioned in the Throne Speech including new provincial home energy efficiency grants but nothing new has materialized so far.
In the meantime, consider switching to a fixed rate if you aren’t on it already. It requires a strong credit score so unfortunately, it’s not an option for everyone. If you’re stuck on an RRO, you could look elsewhere for savings, like Calgary’s Fair Entry program. It recently expanded so eligible clients can access low-cost internet, wireless, and TV services.
We continue to fight for more cost-of-living relief from the UCP government. We don’t need ads stoking fears of being left in the cold. We need to see real, tangible action now.
MLA – Calgary Currie Janet Eremenko proudly serves the following Communities: Bankview, Currie, Glenbrook, Glendale, Killarney-Glengarry, Richmond-Knob Hill, Rosscarrock, Rutland Park, Scarboro, Scarboro/Sunalta West, Shaganappi, Spruce Cliff, Sunalta, Westgate
