Manitoba Hydro estimates carbon tax will cost homeowners $88 this year

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This article was published 25/01/2019 (2678 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba Hydro is reminding customers that the federal government’s new carbon tax will start showing up on their natural gas bills beginning April 1.

The $20-per-tonne tax on greenhouse gas emissions results in a levy of 3.91 cents per cubic metre of natural gas. The average homeowner will see a 13 per cent increase in natural gas costs — about $88 this year — the Crown corporation says in a posting on its website.

The tax is set to rise by $10 a tonne each year until 2022.

Next year, the average homeowner is expected to pay $132 in carbon taxes on natural gas purchases. In 2021, that’s expected to rise to $176 and by 2022 to $220.

The new federal tax will also be applied to fossil fuels burned in motor vehicles.

However, Ottawa has promised to rebate the tax to consumers when they file their income tax. It said last fall that the average household will come out ahead.

The federal government estimated that this year the average Manitoba household will pay $232 in carbon taxes but receive $336 in rebates. By 2022, under the escalating tax, the average household will pay $547 in carbon taxes, but receive $797.

Ottawa said it would impose its own tax on Manitobans after Premier Brian Pallister withdrew his carbon tax proposal last year.

Ottawa is also imposing the tax in several other provinces that have failed to create their own carbon levy within federal guidelines.

Meanwhile, Manitoba Hydro says even when the carbon tax rises to $50 per tonne in 2022 it is still expected to be less expensive to heat a home with natural gas than with electricity.

The corporation offers various energy-efficiency tips and programs to minimize natural gas use.

larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca