Manitoba Hydro seeks rate increases of nearly 4% in 2015 and 2016

WINNIPEG – Manitoba Hydro has asked for permission to increase rates 3.95 per cent on April 1 and again next year.

The Crown electrical utility asked the Public Utilities Board of Manitoba Friday to allow the increases.

“These increases are required for the continued safe, reliable supply of electricity to Manitobans,” Manitoba Hydro president and CEO Scott Thomson said in a news release.

Hydro said the bill for residential customers without electric space heat who use an average of 1,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity per month would rise $3.20 per month after the first increase, and by a similar amount the next year. A customer who has electric space heat and uses an average of 2,000 kWh per month will see a rise of $6.11 as of April 1, according to Hydro.