Press Release

VANCOUVER – BC Hydro today filed its 2007 Rate Design Application (RDA) [PDF, 3.7 Mb] with the BC Utilities Commission (BCUC) which includes updates to BC Hydro rates, and terms and conditions of service to reflect current conditions.

"The Rate Design Application is based on the principles of making rates fair, simpler to understand, and moving them towards encouraging conservation," said Bev Van Ruyven, BC Hydro's Senior Vice-President of Customer Care and Conservation. "We have taken the last three months to engage with customers and other stakeholders and develop a Rate Design Application that we believe is fair and balanced."

Key elements of the Rate Design Application include:

• Rebalancing rates to more closely match the revenue being collected from each rate class with the cost of providing service to customers in that rate class. Pending approval by the BCUC, effective April 1, 2008, there will be a 5.2% reduction for small commercial customers balanced by a 1% increase to residential customers and a 10% increase to irrigation rate customers. The irrigation rate class will be moved into alignment with other rate classes with additional phased increases over the following four years. Rate rebalancing does not result in an overall increase in BC Hydro revenues.
• Phasing out the E-Plus program which was created in 1987 and was closed to new customers in 1990. Approximately 13,000 customers have remained on this rate which gives them a roughly 50% discount on heating loads. BC Hydro is proposing a 10-year notice period which, if approved, means the rate will come to an end on April 1, 2018. In the meantime, there will be a gradual reduction of the E-Plus discount from 50% to one-third over the next five years, and when a home with an existing E-Plus account changes hands the rate will no longer be transferred.
• Restructuring the rate paid by large commercial customers over three years to flatten energy charges. The current declining energy charges are not consistent with the objective of promoting energy conservation.
• Updates to the Distribution Extension Policy to simplify the calculation of BC Hydro's maximum contribution, and updates to miscellaneous fees to reflect the current costs of providing those services to our customers.

The RDA is the first time since 1991 that BC Hydro has applied to update its rates. The Application must now proceed through a BCUC hearing process that will allow the opportunity for members of the public to make submissions.

Contact:

BC Hydro Media Relations

Media Relations manager

Phone: 604 623-4022