FortisBC isn’t denying that natural gas rates for its tens of thousands of customers in British Columbia are going up substantially, but the company insists the new rates remain among the lowest for natural gas anywhere in North America.

It was announced earlier this week that FortisBC has received approval from the British Columbia Utilities Commission (BCUC) to increase its natural gas rates.

Beginning, Oct. 1, the majority of natural gas customers will see an increase to their cost of gas rate of .909 per gigajoule, meaning the rate will change from the current $1.14/GJ to $$2.050/GJ, said Michael Allison’s FortisBC’s manager of corporate communications.

“These changes will result in an increase of approximately $82, or about $7 per month, for residential customers, based on the average use of 90 gigajoules per year for our average customer,” said Allison.

While he wouldn’t deny that the increase from $1.14 to $2.05 per gigajoule is an 80 per cent increase, suggestions by some customers and analysts that this will result in an 80 per cent increase on their bill is simply inaccurate, said Allison.

“The only thing that is increasing is the cost of gas, which makes up just a portion of your natural gas bill,” he said. “The base costs for delivery and storage and transportation won’t be changing.

“The increase in the cost of gas will result in our natural gas customers paying an average of $7 per month more on their natural gas bill or roughly $82 a year.”

Despite the pending increase, natural gas prices in British Columbia – and most of Canada – are still near their lowest levels in a decade, said Allison.

The $1.14/GJ rate that has been in effect over the past several months “is a historical low” for natural gas in this province.

“Natural gas prices have risen since the spring of 2016, said Dennis Swanson, vice president of energy supply for FortisBC. “The hotter-than-normal summer, for most of Canada and the United States, has resulted in higher-than-expected continental demand for electricity, which is often generated by natural gas production, has led to an increase in prices during the past few months.

“Despite this, natural gas prices are still near their lowest levels in a decade. As we approach the winter season, we encourage our customers to continue using energy wisely to help keep costs down.”

Allison said FortisBC reviews is natural gas and propane costs of gas rates every three months with the BCUC to make sure rates passed on to customers cover the cost of purchasing the gas on their behalf.

“Factors affecting the market price of natural gas and propane in North America include weather, supply and demand and economic conditions,” he said. “Propane prices are also influenced by global oil markets.”

FortisBC can not and does not arbitrarily raise the price of natural gas or propane to its customers, he said.

“You pay what we pay for the commodity,” he said.

The utility company must apply to the BCUC to raise rates based on market supply and demand and he reiterated the new price that natural gas customers will begin to pay effective Oct. 1 remains among the lowest in North America.

There has been a substantial amount of negative publicity about the pending rate increases, so FortisBC owes it to its customers to explain that the new rates are reasonable at $7 more per month for the average customer, he said.

“Over the past few days, we’ve had quite a few people comment negatively on Twitter about the upcoming natural gas rate increases,” he said. “We are urging our customers to get more accurate information by visiting our website to get more detailed information about the new rates.”

With the exception of a small section of Vancouver Island, all FortisBC customers now pay the same rates for natural gas across the province, he said.

This is a recent change as customers in different parts of the province used to be charged different rates for natural gas, he said.

For more information about the FortisBC natural gas rates increases, go online and visit: https://www.fortisbc.com/MediaCentre/Blog/Pages/20160913-Natural-gas-bill-80-per-cent.aspx

KEITH LACEY

Osoyoos Times