Residential BC Hydro customers can look forward to a credit on their power bill early in the New Year, and the money they get back could buy them a Latte Grande at Starbucks – possibly even a Latte Venti.
For business, the rebates wil be higher, depending on how much power they use.
BC Hydro announced Tuesday (Dec. 1) it would be giving out a one-time credit on power bills in the New Year, as it retroactively reduces a rate decrease that took effect in April by an additional 0.6 per cent.
The one per cent rate decrease, introduced in April, is being bumped up (or down, as the case may be) to -1.6 per cent. The additional decrease is being made at the request of the BC Utilities Commission (BCUC).
“In its decision in the Fiscal 2020/21 Revenue Requirements Application, the BC Utilities Commission requested BC Hydro to amend its rate reduction to reflect last year’s results and the latest financial forecast,” BC Hydro states in a news release.
"Our government knows families and businesses are facing challenges none of us could have imagined due to the global pandemic,” Bruce Ralston, minister of the newly rebranded Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation said in a press release.
“We are dedicated to putting people first. This one-time bill credit will provide some help for all BC Hydro customers, including residential, commercial and industrial.”
But that one-time credit amounts to about four bucks for the average residential customer, although it will be more significant for commercial and industrial customers.
“Residential customers should expect to receive a one-time bill credit of $4 on average,” BC Hydro said in its release, “while commercial customers will receive from $10 to $600 on average depending on the size of the business and industrial customers will receive up to $375,000.”
