November 15, 2007
BC Hydro submits compliance filing in response to BC Utilities Commission decision
VANCOUVER – BC Hydro today submitted a compliance filing in response to the British Columbia Utilities Commission's (BCUC) October 26 decision on BC Hydro's 2007 Rate Design Application (RDA). The BCUC's final decision, while revenue neutral to BC Hydro, will result in a re-balancing of rates among customer classes over the next three years.
By law, BC Hydro rates must be established on a cost of service basis, and under the Utilities Commission Act, the BCUC has the authority to require BC Hydro to apply certain methods and formulas to determine the cost of providing service to each rate class, and to set rates on that basis. BC Hydro's rate design had not been comprehensively reviewed by the BCUC since 1991.
As required by the BCUC, BC Hydro filed a RDA in March followed by an extensive regulatory review and public hearing. BC Hydro's original application proposed a modest re-balancing of rates over time and would have resulted in a one-time 1 per cent increase in residential rates, a 5.2 per cent decrease for small commercial customers, a 10 per cent rate increase for irrigation customers, and no change in rates for large commercial customers, industrial customers or customers using the street light rate.
In its October 26 ruling, the BCUC ordered BC Hydro to adopt a re-balancing formula that results in a 3.6 per cent increase to the residential rate class in year one, which for the majority of customers means an average $1 to $3 increase to their monthly bill.
Small commercial customers will now see a decrease of 6.7 per cent in year one, large commercial customer rates will decrease 2.2 per cent, industrial customers' rates will decrease 0.9 per cent, street light rates will decrease 7.2 per cent and irrigation rates will increase 6.4 per cent.
The RDA does not result in an increase in BC Hydro revenues. The new rates become effective April 1, 2008.
Contact:
| Gillian Robinson Riddell |
| Media Relations |
| Phone: 604 623-4022 |
| gillian.robinson@bchydro.com |
