Electricity bills increase in Calgary after ‘significant’ increase in demand – Calgary | The Canadian News

Calgarians should expect to be charged more for their electricity bills amid significant demand on the grid and a transition to above-average rates.

ENMAX, one of the most used electricity suppliers in the city, sent an email to customers informing them of higher prices for the rest of the winter months.

“While fluctuations in electricity market prices are normal, we have seen a general trend of rising rates over time,” the email to customers reads.

“The price volatility we predict is due to market factors outside a single energy provider, including but not limited to expectations for a colder than normal winter and changes in electricity supply and demand in Alberta’s wholesale market. ”

Earlier this month, the province set a record for electricity consumption during bitterly cold weather.

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According to energy comparison website energyrates.ca, Alberta’s energy prices rose by 34 percent between November 2020 and 2021.

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“One of the reasons why this increase seems so significant is that we’re actually coming from a low period in the market,” the site’s founder Joel MacDonald told Global News. “You see rates switching far below average to well above average.”

According to ENMAX’s tariff in January, the price of electricity currently stands at 15.9 cents per kilowatt hour, compared to 7.9 cents per kilowatt hour last year.

MacDonald said prices for electricity have been relatively low since 2018, but a swing in the price of oil has created more activity in the province’s industrial sector, and in turn more demand for the power grid.

According to MacDonald, the price increase can also be attributed to the removal of a limit that limited regulated tariffs to 6.8 cents per kilowatt hour for households and small businesses with lower demand.

Although the limit was removed three years ago, he said energy bills now depend on the rate set by the market.

“What has recently increased is actually the price per kilowatt, and the (transmission and distribution) costs have only increased, but annually it rises between five and 10 percent,” MacDonald said. “So the portion of your account that is rising is different from what Albertans are typically used to, or at least in recent memory.”

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But Albertane has options, MacDonald said.

As part of its email to customers, ENMAX has sent a list of energy saving tips to reduce energy consumption in people’s homes, including using cold water for laundry and avoiding dryer use, energy efficient light bulbs and turning off electronics when they are not not used.

Retailers also offer contracts with floating or fixed rates.

“Fixed rates, of course, you are going to choose your price. It will be the same every month, ”said MacDonald. “Floating rate is based on the wholesale locomotive market, and it has been extraordinarily high the last few months.”

He said consumers who want to save money when electricity prices are high should look at a fixed rate.

© 2022 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.



Reference-globalnews.ca

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