Residential Rates

• Message to customers: Costs cut to reduce rate increases
• Residential conservation rate
• How BC Hydro's rates are set

Residential Conservation Rate

Under the Residential Conservation Rate, customers pay 6.80 cents per kWh for the first 1,350 kWh they use over an average two-month billing period. Above that amount, customers pay 10.19 cents per kWh for the balance of the electricity used during the billing period. This rate structure is designed to encourage conservation and is referred to as a "stepped rate". The first portion is called Step 1 and the amount above that is called Step 2.

Demand for electricity in British Columbia is growing and new electricity supply is more expensive than power from our existing resources. The higher Step 2 price is a better reflection of the real cost of that new electricity supply. The stepped rate structure provides a price incentive to encourage conservation—which is the cleanest, cheapest and simplest way to meet growing electricity demand.

The Residential Conservation Rate structure has achieved its forecasted electricity savings to March 2010 of about 300 gigawatt hours a year province-wide—enough to power 30,000 households for a year.

Knowing how to read your BC Hydro residential customer bill is a good way to monitor and manage your electricity usage.

How BC Hydro's rates are set

The BCUC sets BC Hydro's residential and business electricity rates. BC Hydro serves all of its customers in accordance with the Electric Tariff, which includes terms, conditions, and rate schedules.

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