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By Eli J. Ridder | @EliRidder

Medicine Hat natural gas rates up for February, electricity rate holds steady

Feb 1, 2024 | 11:02 AM

Medicine Hat‘s natural gas rates have increased for the month of February while electricity rates held steady, according to numbers released by the city Thursday.

The default rate for natural gas is now at $2.494 per gigajoule, 27 per cent more than in January but still less than the December rate.

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

The February electricity default rate for residential and small to medium businesses is set at $0.09234 per kilowatt hour, a miniscule change from the $0.09232 per kilowatt hour in January and still far below December’s rate.

Utility rates in February 2024. (CHAT News)

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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.

RATE DOWN FOR LARGE COMMERCIAL AGAIN

The February default electricity rate for large commercial, industrial and street lighting customers was set at $0.15317 per kilowatt hour.

That’s down from the $0.16897 per kilowatt hour rate in January and the $0.18310 per kilowatt hour in December.

The rate is based on the average of the rates for owners whose regulated rate tariffs are approved by the Alberta Utilities Commission under the Electric Utilities Act for that calendar month as posted by the Alberta Utilities Commission under the Regulated Rate Option Regulation.

‘GOING GREEN’ CHARGE THE SAME

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 February is $0.002 per kilowatt hour, the same as January.