MONTREAL – Hydro-Québec has been ordered to roll back its rates 0.5 per cent by the province’s energy regulator.
The utility had been seeking a 1.7-per-cent increase in rates for 2012.
In a ruling released Thursday afternoon, the Régie de l’énergie ordered an across-the-board clawback, effective April 1.
Last year, in an unprecedented decision, the energy board ordered Hydro-Québec to reduce rates by 0.4 per cent. It had asked for a rate freeze.
Hydro-Québec spokesman Guy Litalien said the utility “will analyze this decision and apply it.”
It’s too early to determine what impact the rollback might have on utility operations or projects, he said.
Thursday’s decision by the Régie will translate into an annual saving of about $8 for a family of four living in an average-sized Quebec home, he said.
Quebec residents and businesses currently enjoy among the lowest electricity rates in North America.
Get breaking National news
Montreal residential customers whose monthly consumption is 1,000 kWh pay the lowest rates in North America according to an industry index.
That particular rate was 6.88 cents in 2010, was 6.82 cents in 2011 and will drop to 6.76 cents after April 1, Litalien said.
Most of the increase proposed by Hydro-Québec – 1.1 per cent – was related to a change in accounting standards, a move to International Financial Reporting Standards.
But part of the requested increase – $40.9 million or 0.4 per cent – was related to the utility’s proposed bid to roll out next-generation or “smart” meters across the province.
The board, which is to begin hearings on that controversial proposal beginning March 19, noted that it hadn’t yet decided the matter and asked the utility to reduce its 2012 revenue requirements by $40.9 million.
In Thursday’s decision, the board also approved a $219 million budget for energy efficiency measures in 2012 expected to save 696 Gwh.
But Hydro-Québec rate hikes are on the horizon for 2014.
In March 2010, Finance Minister Raymond Bachand announced that rates will climb as Quebec nudges up the price of its “heritage pool” of hydroelectric power over five years in a bid to bring down provincial debt.
(The “heritage pool” is a vast block of power linked to the low-cost generating stations in James Bay built before 2000.)
As a consequence of Bachand’s measure alone, the utility’s customers are to see a rate increase of 3.7 per cent a year, beginning in 2014.
Comments
Want to discuss? Please read our Commenting Policy first.