VANCOUVER: BC Hydro has launched its new optional residential flat rate as an alternative to its tiered rate to help customers who use more electricity save money and encourage electrification.
The flat rate, approved by the BC Utilities Commission in February 2025, allows residential customers to pay a fixed price per kilowatt hour (kWh) of electricity used, eliminating the higher charge applied when usage exceeds a certain threshold under the tiered system. This change benefits households with greater electricity demands, such as those relying on electric baseboard heating and heat pumps, those with many family members or multiple families living in one home, or those owning electric vehicles. Switching to the new optional flat rate could save an average of $60 per year.
“With an ongoing trade war and rising costs, we are committed to keeping the price of electricity low for British Columbians,” said Adrian Dix, Minister of Energy and Climate Solutions. “We’ve worked with BC Hydro to provide households a new, optional flat rate, helping give customers a break on their energy bills while promoting electrification.”
A recent survey[1] conducted on behalf of BC Hydro finds most electrically-heated households of two or more people get charged at least once a year in Tier 2, with 80 per cent agreeing the higher tier puts a strain on their expenses. Almost two-thirds of BC Hydro customers that reach Tier 2 at least once a year, feel it is a barrier to switching to electrically-powered technology like electric vehicles and heat pumps.
The flat rate energy charge is 12.63 cents per kWh – this is between the Tier 1 and Tier 2 energy charges under the tiered rate. Customers that select the flat rate could potentially save even more, as they also can add optional time-of-day pricing, which offers a 5-cent discount per kWh to all overnight usage (11 p.m. to 7 a.m.), and a 5-cent per kWh surcharge to all on-peak usage (4 to 9 p.m.).
“Our customers have unique needs when it comes to managing their electricity use and we want to provide a variety of options to help,” said Chris O’Riley, President and CEO of BC Hydro. “Ninety-eight per cent of the energy BC Hydro generates comes from non-emitting renewable resources, and the flat rate supports electrification and decarbonization by removing a barrier to the adoption of electric vehicles and heat pumps.”
Customers can sign up using their online BC Hydro account and use BC Hydro’s rate estimator tool, which uses their electricity use data to determine if they could save money by switching to this new rate option at bchydro.com/myhydro.
For those who live alone or use less electricity, BC Hydro offers other opportunities to save energy and money, including investing about $700 million in a new Energy Efficiency Plan offering programs and new opportunities for savings for residential customers, including Team Power Smart, Peak Saver and retail rebates for energy efficient products.
For more information, visit bchydro.com/save.
Contact:
BC Hydro Media Relations
Email: media@bchydro.com
Phone: 604 928 6468
[1] Online survey conducted by BC Hydro from March 25 to 27, 2025, among a representative sample of 820 online British Columbians who are members of the Angus Reid Forum. Margin of error +/-3.4 percentage points.