SaskEnergy’s Proposed Rate Increases Average Residential Bill by $ 5.65 / month | The Canadian News

SaskEnergy announced Friday that it is applying to the Saskatchewan Rate Review Panel (SRRP) to increase its commodity rate.

The proposed rate change from $ 2,575 / gigajoule (GJ) to $ 3.15 / GJ would be an overall bill increase of approximately 8.4 percent on the average residential customer’s bill, or a $ 5 increase , 65 per month.

Additionally, the change would result in an average annual increase of 14.4 percent for small to large business customers or an increase of between $ 28 and $ 360 per month, as well as an average annual increase of $ 1,490 per month or 17 , 8 percent for small industrial customers.

SaskEnergy said that after a period of relatively stable and low natural gas prices in recent years, market prices have essentially doubled.

“Natural gas prices on the open market have essentially doubled since SaskEnergy lowered the commodity rate in 2019. Increased demand for natural gas for power generation, coupled with increased exports of liquefied natural gas , they are contributing to rising commodity prices, “SaskEnergy Chairman and CEO Ken From said in a news release.

“While this proposed rate adjustment reflects higher natural gas prices, SaskEnergy will continue to be competitive with other Canadian jurisdictions and will continue to provide stable and affordable natural gas rates for our customers.”

The Crown Corporation said that virtually all natural gas utilities in Canada have recently increased their commodity rate as they have also been affected by rising natural gas prices.

This would be SaskEnergy’s first commodity rate increase since 2014, after four decreases. No markup is included in the commodity rate, according to SaskEnergy.

If approved following the SRRP rate review process, the Crown corporation said the new rate would take effect on November 1, 2021.

1:54Motorcyclists Against SGI’s Insurance Increase Proposal