On Monday night, Kitchener city council approved a price hike for Kitchener Utilities which will come into effect at the beginning of August.
The move will see Kitchener Utilities’ natural gas supply rate rise to 21.45 cents per cubic metre.
A report presented to council says that the average consumer uses about 2,100 cubic metres annually so the rise will add about $40 extra to their bill over the last five months of 2022.
The report says that Kitchener Utilities, which is operated with zero loss, buys about half its gas at a fixed rate and half at a variable rate.
The utility still needs to buy gas for 2022 and 2023 and natural gas prices are double what was budgeted for.
It says they are hoping to avoid having to drastically raise rates next year, which would result in “rate shock” for residents during the heating season.