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Taxpayers in Ottawa are bracing for a nearly 20 percent increase in heating bills starting this month, another costly hit to low-income residents who are already grappling with rising costs for everything from fuel to food, according to an anti-poverty advocate.
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The Ontario Power Board Last month the new natural gas prices presented by Enbridge Gas were approved. Ottawa is within the Enbridge gas distribution zone, where rates will increase 19.4 percent or about $250 more per year.
The provincial power regulator says the rate increase would have been higher were it not for a mitigation plan proposed by Enbridge. For taxpayers in Ottawa and others in their coverage area, the costs would have increased by 21.4 percent.
Reached for comment, Enbridge said Ottawa residents “will see an increase in their natural gas bills ranging from about $243 to about $251 per year.” For business customers, they will see an increase in their total natural gas bills ranging from about 23 percent to 30 percent, the company said.
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An anti-poverty advocate warns that the rate increase comes at the worst time.
“We know that millions of people in Canada and certainly in Ontario are already struggling with the cost of living due to a number of factors,” said Natalie Appleyard, socioeconomic policy analyst for Citizens of Public Justice, a non-religious Christian organization. lucrative social justice advocacy group.
Appleyard said it’s important to take steps to mitigate climate change in the transition to renewable energy, which could lead to increased costs for energy sources like natural gas. But these transition costs should not be “borne disproportionately by people who are already struggling to get by.”
“Even while [the federal government] you’re talking about poverty reduction, we know there are still increases in basic housing need and food insecurity that need to be addressed,” Appleyard said. “This will have an absolute impact on people who are already struggling to pay for rent for medicine, food they need or just other basic necessities.”
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The OEB attributed the rate increase to “sustained global demand for liquefied natural gas from North America and uncertainty in the global energy outlook.”
Enbridge also blamed the war in Ukraine as another factor driving up costs.
Although Canada is a major producer of natural gas, the OEB said it is subject to world prices.
“If natural gas prices in the global market increase, the price Ontario consumers pay will also increase,” the regulator said in an emailed statement.
Natural gas rates in Ontario are reviewed and updated quarterly by the OEB.
During the past year, Enbridge natural gas prices for Ottawa have risen from about 11 cents per cubic meter to nearly 27 cents now. In July 2020, the price stood at just under 8 cents.
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The OEB said taxpayers in need of financial help could apply for the province’s rate low income energy assistance program, a one-time emergency grant that can be used on an electricity or natural gas bill. To apply, the household’s annual after-tax income must be less than $28,000 for one person or two partners and $39,000 for three people.
“This would not be the crisis that it will be for people if we had adequate rates of welfare and support for people with disabilities, if we had enough affordable housing for people, if we had pharmacare,” Appleyard said. “We cannot blame this affordability crisis on climate change mitigation, or even on inflation.”
She said that while some have blamed the rise in the rate of inflation on heavy government spending during the pandemic, government-funded supports (including Canada’s now-ended Emergency Response Benefit) were needed to keep people from falling. in poverty.
The OEB said it is difficult to predict when prices will fall again. The International Energy Agency warns of a continued upward trend in prices.
