While the cost of natural gas is being lowered, the impending carbon tax will more than negate any savings to Saskatchewan energy users.
The Government of Saskatchewan has approved changes recommended by the Saskatchewan Rate Review Panel to SaskEnergy’s Commodity and Delivery Service Rates to lower SaskEnergy’s Commodity Rate from $3.65/Gigajoule(GJ) to $2.575/GJ, the lowest rate in 20 years. The Delivery Service Rate will increase by 3.4 per cent to provide additional funding for safety and infrastructure investments.
The government says that on April 1, customers will see these changes to their bills, which would have provided estimated annual savings of $90 per average residential customer. However, starting April 1, SaskEnergy is also required to begin collecting the Federal Carbon Tax, which will eliminate the anticipated savings from SaskEnergy’s rate changes and result in a $109 average increase this year, with a further $54 annual increase each of the following three years.
“SaskEnergy customers should be able to take advantage of what would have been the lowest commodity rate in 20 years,” Minister Responsible for SaskEnergy Bronwyn Eyre said. “Instead, the Federal Carbon Tax will wipe out those savings and raise heating costs for families and businesses across the province.”
