While it feels like the price of almost everything is increasing, some residents in the Peace Region woke up Thursday to an increase to their natural gas bills.
The British Columbia Utilities Commission (BCUC) approved the rate hike which fully takes effect on May 1st. For residential service in Dawson Creek and Fort St. John, homeowners will see a 6.7 per cent increase. Pacific Northern Gas is also hiking their delivery charges for residential customers by 6.8 per cent.
The rate increase is well above the rate of inflation and comes at a time when many households are struggling to pay their bills. But the news gets worse.
If April, Pacific Northern Gas applied to increase basic delivery rates for the next 3 years. In approved, Fort St. John and Dawson Creek homeowner will be forced to pay approximately 9% more for each year: 2025, 2026, and 2027.
For Tumbler Ridge residential and small commercial customers, PNG(NE) requested to decrease delivery rates by approximately 2% for each year: 2025, 2026 and 2027.
PNG(NE) is also requesting approval to change the Revenue Stabilization Adjustment Mechanism rate rider for 2025, for Residential and Small Commercial customers, to $0.961 per gigajoule for Fort St. John and Dawson Creek, and to $1.238 per gigajoule for Tumbler Ridge.