CHAT News File Photo

By Chris Brown

March utility rates released by city

Mar 1, 2023 | 2:52 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – The default natural gas rate and electricity rate for City of Medicine Hat customers are both down significantly this month.

The rates for March were released on Wednesday.

The natural gas rate is $2.537 per gigajoule (GJ), down from the previous month of $5.218 per GJ.

The first-quarter fixed rate is $6.607 per GJ. Customers who sign a fixed contract between Jan. 1 and March 31 are guaranteed this fixed rate for 12 months.

The February variable contract offering is based on the Alberta Energy Company average market reference price plus $1 per GJ. The February rate is $3.646 per GJ (including the $1 premium). The rate for March will be released April 1, 2023.

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On Feb. 28 the city reverted to the previous method for calculating the default natural gas rate months after a new way was adopted after an omission of a clause to amend the methodology was discovered.

Electricity

The March price of electricity for residential customers on the regulated rate option is 20.054 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh), down from the previous month of 31.914 cents. The rate is in the middle of the 21.894 cents from Direct Energy and the 18.681 cents set by Enmax.

The provincial government has placed a temporary cap for January, February and March of 13.5 cents on the price for those on the regulated rate option. The price difference between the temporary cap and the calculated monthly regulated rate will be deferred and then charged over a 21-month recovery period from April 1, 2023, to Dec. 31, 2024.

The first-quarter fixed contract electricity commodity rate offering is 17.653 cents per kilowatt hour. The rate is available to those who sign a fixed contract between Jan. 1 and March 31, and are guaranteed this rate for 12 months.

The February variable contract rate for residential customers is based on the monthly average Alberta Power Pool price as established and published by the Alberta Electrical System Operator plus two cents per kWh. The February variable rate is 14.350 cents (including the two-cent premium). The rate for March will be released April 1.

The province is offering rebates on electricity bills until April. Albertans will get $75 rebates on their utility bills for January and February and another $25 in March and April.