British Columbians will see a new credit applied to their energy bills starting this month.
The B.C. Electricity Affordability Credit — announced by the provincial NDP government in February — will be applied to the first BC Hydro bill after April 15, 2024. It'll provide the average BC Hydro customer with savings of $100.
"The credit will be automatically calculated and divided over their BC Hydro bills during the next 12 months," said the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation in a statement Monday.
"Nearly all customers will pay less this year than they did last year,” said the ministry.
People do not need to apply for the credit but they do need to have an active account as of March 31, 2024 to receive it.
The credit amount is based on people’s annual electricity consumption before March 31, 2024.
Commercial businesses will see a credit of 4.6 per cent, or an average of $400, respectively.
On April 1, electricity bills are increasing by 2.3 per cent.
“The B.C. Electricity Affordability Credit announced by the province in the February 2024 Budget will more than offset this increase,” said the ministry.
The credit is also available to customers of non-BC Hydro electricity utilities, including FortisBC and municipal utilities.
