Electric rates will increase because of provider fees

The city of Lethbridge has announced that residential electric utility bills in the city will increase about $5.50 per month starting in March.

 This means the average residential electric bill will increase by 4.7 per cent.

Small commercial rates will increase by 6.2 per cent and large rates will go up 6.7 per cent.  Industrial customers will see an average increase of 5.9 per cent, and rates will increase an average of 6.8 per cent for about a dozen of the city’s largest industrial customers.

The reason for the increase is the 29 per cent hike in transmission access fees charged by the Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO) to operate and maintain the provincial electric transmission grid. The new rates will take effect March 1, 2014 under a new Electric Distribution Tariff bylaw which received City Council approval Monday.

“All Albertans are being affected by sharp increases in the transmission fees charged by AESO, and it appears those costs could double in the next five years,” said Mayor Chris Spearman. “We’re concerned about those proposed increases here in Lethbridge, as I’m sure many other Albertans are across the province.”

The Distribution Access fee collected by the City’s electric utility will drop slightly by 2.9 per cent.