Trail Mayor Concerned About Utility Disparity

February 17, 2012

The mayor of Trail says he hopes to attract the government's attention over what he sees as a potential disparity in the way utilities are billed in our province.

Fortis BC has appealed to the BC Utilities Commission to amalgamante its three natural gas utilities into one legal entity with common rates for everyone in our province.

And according to Dieter Bogs that could save residents of Vancouver Island for instance, up to 45%  on their annual gas bill. But no so-called "postage rate" exists for electricity, and Bogs says he's frustrated about it. He says 50% of BC's electricity is generated in our region and yet  we pay 20% to 25% more for it than they do in the Lower Mainland. He's arguing if a postage rate works for gas why can't that be for hydro?

Bogs says he and the Lower Columbia Community Development Team (LCCDT) have expressed their frustrations to the BCUC without success in the past.

But he acknowledges electrical rates are a different animal given that both public and private suppliers exist in BC.