January power bills won’t be pretty for local consumers, as the regulated rate for power has climbed to an all-time high.
St. Albert consumers not on a contract will pay 14.66 cents per kilowatt-hour, up from 13.08 cents in December, which was also a big increase from the month before.
EPCOR spokesperson Tim le Riche said the increase in the rates would likely cost consumers about $10 on the average monthly bill.
While Fortis Alberta provides power services in St. Albert, EPCOR provides power to those lines through their network and is responsible for the regulated rate.
Several factors have come together according to le Riche to drive the regulated rate option (RRO) up this month, including demand from Albertans.
“Albertans have an absolutely voracious appetite for power, most people have multiple TVs, they have big screen TVs, they have multiple computers.”
He said at the time that demand has remained high, the supply has been cut back because of maintenance and other problems at several power plants.
This has forced power companies to go outside of the province to purchase electricity.
Companies purchase their power between five and 45 days in advance and le Riche said they currently expect to see power rates decline in February and then again in March, but he said that isn’t for certain.
“The early indication is the price is headed downward, but we have to be careful about that, because it is a market, so we have to say maybe.”
The Salvation Army has a program for people who are struggling to pay their power bills, but Lieut. Peter Kim with the St. Albert branch said so far they haven’t seen a big demand for it.
He said that could change when the power bills actually start arriving in the mail. When people do need help the organization takes it on a case-by-case basis and tries to help people through the tough situations.
“It depends on their situation, of course and every situation is different. We have to kind of adjust to what they are dealing with at the moment.”
At Hole’s new Enjoy Centre the increase is having a fairly limited impact because the facility uses a co-generation unit and generates most of its own power.
Jim Hole said the unit generates between 85 and 90 per cent of the facility power, but they have noticed a spike in the cost of the power they do pull off the grid.
“The prices have gone up for sure, so it would be a lot tougher on the old system where we were bringing all the power onto our site from the outside.”
City spokesperson Maya Pungur-Buick said the city will not feel the increase in power bills because it has a long-term contract for electricity.
le Riche said they believe the RRO is a legitimate option for consumers, but regardless of how someone pays for the power, the best way to reduce the bill is to reduce the power consumed.
“It doesn’t matter whether you are on a contract or an RRO the best way to keep your power bill within your budget is to conserve.”
He suggested using compact fluorescent light bulbs, unplugging basement beer fridges and making other small changes to reduce consumption.
“Simple things like that, that don’t affect your lifestyle, can add up to big savings on your power bill.”
