Like salmon - once a symbol of B.C. resource wealth and now too costly for the average family to eat regularly - our abundant electricity is now going to cost us an arm and a leg.
On Tuesday, the province announced a series of rate hikes, forecasting a stunning 28% increase compounded over five years. Next year, for example, rates will rise 9%, or about $8 per month, for residential customers, with industrial consumers alsopaying a heftier price.
What can we take from this? Well, those Power Smart tips are starting to look more necessary. Politically, it's akin to a post-election GST bait-and-switch but it's likely little can be done to prevent the pain. Power is needed for the growing province and it costs money to build or upgrade dams. Indeed, the province has said it will even cut costs by closing Burrard Thermal in Port Moody and deferring other expenses.
But in a water-logged province such as ours, where power has always been plentiful, those rate hikes will be tough to take.
