Hydro rates to increase Tuesday

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This article was published 30/11/2020 (1916 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A day after an announced rebate for Autopac customers, a rate increase for Manitoba Hydro customers silently takes effect, without any public notice or scrutiny.

Crown Services Minister Jeff Wharton confirmed Monday a 2.9 per cent electricity rate hike takes effect Dec. 1.

He said the increase is part of the sweeping Budget Implementation and Tax Statues Amendment Act introduced Oct. 9 by Finance Minister Scott Fielding, which received royal assent in the pre-dawn hours Nov. 6.

“Certainly that was announced, and we’re going to move forward in that fashion,” Wharton said of the Hydro move, after delivering the news 675,000 MPI rebate cheques (worth an average $100) were being sent out soon.

“I think that the timing is pretty interesting,” NDP Leader Wab Kinew told reporters after question period Monday.

“I think the government pretty cynically put out this announcement to try and cover up for the Hydro increase that they legislated, that there was no public hearing, that they’re implementing right before the holidays.”

The budget implementation bill allowed the government to impose the increase without scrutiny of the Public Utilities Board, the independent tribunal that considers both impact to customers and financial requirements of the utility in approving rates.

“They’re treating Crown corporations as an extension of government, which they are not,” Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont told reporters.

Another bill still before the house — the Public Utilities Ratepayer Protection and Regulatory Reform Act — would give cabinet and its appointees even more power and control of Crown corporations.

“They are owned by government but they are supposed to be run independently, and the level of political interference is off the charts,” Lamont said after question period. “The one great irony is the premier thinks of himself as a free-enterprise guy when he’s literally dictating the price of things left, right and centre.”

Information about the rate increase is posted on Manitoba Hydro’s website, spokesman Bruce Owen said in an email.

Affected customers — all except those in some in remote, diesel-served communities — are being notified directly with an insert with bills, starting this week, he said.

The 2.9 per cent hike will result in a $2.78 increase in the monthly bill of a residential customer without electric heat using 1,000 kilowatt-hours per month, Hydro says in the notice. It will result in a $5.31 increase in the monthly bill for a residential customer with electric heat using 2,000 kw-hr/m.

The rate increase is needed to ensure the Crown corporation “has adequate revenue to maintain, rebuild and expand the electricity system as required, to continue to provide safe and reliable service to our customers.”

Customers having difficulty paying bills are reminded to contact Manitoba Hydro to discuss payment options.

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca