Wednesday April 1, 2020 ~ BC
by Mary Brooke ~ West Shore Voice News
Another step in supporting British Columbians through the COVID-19 pandemic is attention to the cost of electricity and how relief in that area can help individual households, small businesses and industries.
“We are facing unprecedented challenges due to COVID-19. People are out of work, and businesses are facing tough choices about whether they can stay open,” said Premier John Horgan today.
“Giving people relief on their power bills lets them focus on the essentials, while helping businesses and encouraging critical industry to keep operating,” it was stated in a news release today April 1.
Starting the week of April 6, BC Hydro will offer new, targeted billing relief to provide immediate help to those most in need through the BC Hydro COVID-19 Relief Fund.
Residential customers who have lost their jobs or are unable to work as a result of COVID-19 will receive a credit. The credit will be three times their average monthly bill over the past year at their home and does not have to be repaid. The application period is April 6 to June 30, 2020.
Small businesses that have been forced to close due to COVID-19 will have their power bills forgiven for three months. BC Hydro is waiving bills for these customers from April to June 2020. The application period for businesses opens April 13.
Major industries, like pulp and paper mills and mines, will have the opportunity to defer 50% of their bill payments for three months.
“People who have lost their jobs or are unable to work due to COVID-19 shouldn’t have to choose between paying their rent or mortgage and paying their hydro bill,” said Bruce Ralston, Minister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources.
“These measures will also provide relief to small businesses such as restaurants and retail shops who have had to close during COVID-19, and support them in reopening once the pandemic has passed,” said Minister Ralston.
In addition to this new targeted bill relief, BC Hydro rates will be reduced by 1% on April 1, 2020, after the BC Utilities Commission provided interim approval of the application BC Hydro submitted last August. This is the first rate decrease in decades.
“We recognize the financial stress many of our customers are facing after losing their job or having to close their business as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Chris O’Riley, president and chief executive officer, BC Hydro. “We hope that not having to worry about their electricity costs for a few months will help provide some temporary relief during these challenging times.”
On March 13, 2020, BC Hydro introduced its COVID-19 Customer Assistance Program to provide residential and commercial customers with the option to defer payments or arrange a flexible payment plan to help pay their BC Hydro bills. This is a variation on a service they already provided, but now with more flexibility.
According to the BC Government release today from the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources:
- The average residential customer’s bill is $159 per month, so the average credit provided by this new offering by BC Hydro will be $477.
- Some customers may also be eligible for BC Hydro’s existing Customer Crisis Fund, which provides access to grants of up to $600 to pay their bills (but that generally applies when a customer is faced with disconnection).
- The average bill savings for small businesses that qualify will be $121 per month, so the average total bill savings will be $363.
- BC Hydro has halted all service disconnections for non-payment during COVID-19 and has cancelled all non-emergency planned power outages that would affect its customers.
The BC Government says that BC Hydro has committed to reducing the demand charge that makes up a portion of an industrial customer’s electricity bill.
- The demand charge is based on an industrial customer’s single highest use of energy during a specified period of time and reflects the cost for BC Hydro to have the resources and capacity to serve a customer’s highest demand.
- For the March 2020 to May 2020 billing period, the demand charge will be based on a customer’s average electricity use, rather than its highest use. Reducing the demand charge is expected to provide significant savings for each customer.
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More details on BC Hydro’s response to COVID-19
EDITORIAL: Electricity during the COVID-19 pandemic: usage, payments (by Mary Brooke, March 28, 2020)