BC Hydro rates
Our rates among the lowest in North America
- BC Hydro has among the lowest rates in North America: third lowest for residential customers, fourth lowest for commercial customers and fifth lowest for industrial customers.
Here's a comparison of 2015 monthly residential electricity bills (2015 Hydro Quebec report):
| Montreal | $71.91 |
| Winnipeg | $81.09 |
| Vancouver | $102.83 |
| Seattle | $124.37 |
| Toronto | $143.72 |
| Halifax | $160.30 |
| San Francisco | $276.94 |
| New York | $289.04 |
| Boston | $300.33 |
* Based on use of 1,000 kilowatt hours/ month, excluding taxes and fees in Canadian dollars
- When adjusted for inflation, electricity costs are similar to what they were in 1976.
New rate
- April 1 marks the beginning of the third year of the 10-year plan for BC Hydro rates.
- On April 1, rates will increase by 4 per cent or about $4 per month for residential customers
Interim rate application
- BC Hydro filed an interim one-year rate application with the BC Utilities Commission in February.
- BC Hydro will file a full Revenue Requirements Application for the entire three-year period from fiscal 2017 to fiscal 2019 this summer.
- In addition to the four percent increase for fiscal 2017, BC Hydro will file for increases of 3.5 per cent (fiscal 2018) and three per cent (fiscal 2019) as previously announced in the 10-year rates plan.
Capital projects
- BC Hydro is investing $7.6 billion in capital projects over the next three years.
- Many of BC Hydro's facilities were built in the 1960s, 70s and 80s, and BC Hydro must make investments in aging infrastructure and new projects to meet growing demand for power.
- Over the past five years, BC Hydro has delivered more than 550 generation, substation and transmission projects, 1.8 per cent under budget overall.
- These projects include the Smart Metering program ($780 million, more than $150 million under budget), Mica Units 5 & 6 ($714 million), Interior to Lower Mainland transmission line ($743 million) and GMS Units 1 to 5 Turbine Replacement project ($185 million, about $90 million under budget).
- Upcoming projects include:
- Site C – a third dam and hydroelectric generating station on the Peace River that will provide enough electricity to power the equivalent of about 450,000 homes per year ($8.335 billion).
- John Hart generating station – a new generating facility and pipelines that will meet today's seismic safety expectations ($1.093 billion).