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Experts predict electricity rates could drop over summer

CALGARY- There’s finally a bright spot for those who have been fed up with rising utility costs.

While the regulated electricity rate jumped 40 per cent this month due to power plant maintenance, no major generating interruptions are scheduled for the summer.

That means household prices should stabilize, and could even drop over the next few months.

The current regulated rate in Calgary is 10.5 cents per kilowatt hour, which could decrease to six or seven cents between June and September.

“Naturally on a power grid, there’ll be outages of a transmission or generation at any given time,” explains John Esaiw, Alberta Electric System operator. “But as we’re coming into the summer, from the supply perspective [we’re finding it] to be quite healthy.”
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Customers do have the option of locking in their rates.

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“If customers are concerned about the fluctuating electricity prices from month to month, they can go out and get a retailer like Enmax– and there’s others as well– and enter into a contract so they have a guaranteed price of supply,” says Gianna Manes, president of Enmax.

Currently, about half of Enmax customers are on the monthly regulated electricity rate.

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