BC Hydro Lowers Rates, Customers to Receive One-Time Bill Credit

BC Hydro Lowers Rates, Customers to Receive One-Time Bill Credit
A worker walks past rows of power lines with his weed whacker in Mississauga, Ont., Canada, on Aug. 19, 2019. Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press
Isaac Teo
Updated:
BC Hydro announced Tuesday they are lowering rates for their customers by 0.61 percent for the 2020/21 fiscal year.
This means customers will receive a one-time bill credit early next year due to the rate decrease, which is retroactive to April 1, 2020.
Residential customers are expected to receive on average a credit of $4. As for commercial customers, they can receive from $10 to $600 on average depending on the size of their business. Industrial customers can receive up to $375,000, the government-owned electricity provider said.
The present rate reduction is an addition to the one introduced earlier this year, which resulted in a net decrease of 1.62 percent compared to 2019.
BC Hydro said their focus is to keep rates low for customers. The company will be filing the next revenue requirement application with the B.C. Utilities Commission, which will eventually approve any rate changes. 
“Our government knows families and businesses are facing challenges none of us could have imagined due to the global pandemic,” B.C. Energy Minister Bruce Ralston said in a statement also on Tuesday
“This one-time bill credit will provide some help for all BC Hydro customers, including residential, commercial and industrial.”