Patrick Daxenbichler/Dreamstime.com

By Eli J. Ridder

UTILITY RATES

Medicine Hat natural gas rates continue drop, electricity bills hold steady

Jun 3, 2024 | 12:32 PM

Medicine Hat’s natural gas rates continued to drop while electricity rates saw a slight decrease for the month of June, according to numbers released by the city on Monday.

The default rate for natural gas is now at $1.225 per gigajoule, over 20 per cent less than in May and part of a downward trend that started in March.

City council in November amended the gas utility bylaw in order to provide customers with a single natural gas rate starting in 2024.

The June electricity billed rate for residential and small to medium businesses is set at $0.07946 per kilowatt hour, a slight one per cent decrease from the $0.08024 per kilowatt hour last month.

Graphic by CHAT News with data from the City of Medicine Hat.

IN THE COMMUNITY

Medicine Hat's Mustard Seed adding new shelter spaces at Alberta government's request

13h ago

HOLIDAYS

Medicine Hat Kiwanis hosting Christmas dinner, applications due Friday

19h ago

IN THE COMMUNITY

'Compassionate Friends' offer peer support for bereaved in Medicine Hat

Dec 11, 2024

Council in October directed the city to use a single best-of-market rate for residential, farm, small and medium commercial, unmetered services and rental lighting customers that would not exceed 11 cents per kilowatt hour or dip below a minimum rate of seven cents.

The best-of-market rate, launched in November, was put in place as a stopgap measure in response to a dramatic rise in electricity costs in 2023.

Longterm, a third-party review of the city’s energy business unit COMCO is ongoing with the goal of ensuring it is providing the best value for the community. The results of that review is expected back later in 2024.

The June billed electricity rate for large commercial, industrial and street lighting customers was set at $0.07841 per kilowatt hour.

‘Going Green’ charge

Customers also have a “Going Green” surcharge on their bill.

This surcharge is for renewable energy purchased for residential, farm, small and medium commercial customers.

The surcharge is calculated monthly to recover costs incurred to purchase renewable energy.

The Going Green surcharge for May is $0.0030 per kilowatt hour, the same as May.