British Columbia

Article: https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/humpback-whale-bc

Rate hike will add $3.75 per month to the average household bill

B.C. Hydro customers can expect a rate increase this year and next, which will add $3.75 per month to the average household bill, according to the province.

B.C. Energy Minister Adrian Dix issued a directive to the B.C. Utilities Commission to increase hydro rates by 3.75 per cent a year for the next two years.

"This is what B.C. Hydro needs," Dix told reporters Monday. "We think this is the right approach. It provides clarity and stability in the system. It lets everyone know what the rates are."

Dix said even with the rate increase, British Columbians have among the lowest electricity rates in North America, paying almost half of what Albertans pay. The rate hike stays below cumulative inflation, he said.

As the opposition accuses the British Columbia government of overreaching with a new bill to allow itself to respond nimbly to changing threats from the United States, it’s worth taking stock of what exactly is at risk.

On Thursday Attorney General Niki Sharma introduced the Economic Stabilization (Tariff Response) Act that she characterized as “enabling legislation.”

If passed the bill allows cabinet to make regulations for “addressing challenges, or anticipated challenges, to British Columbia arising from the actions of a foreign jurisdiction,” reducing interprovincial trade barriers and supporting the economy of B.C. and Canada.

It provides power to increase access to B.C. for goods and services from other Canadian provinces and territories, favour non-American companies in government procurement and introduce tolls or fees on B.C. highways or ferries.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/40823337

Eby's announcement came just moments before Mark Carney, in his first act as the new prime minister of Canada, gave an order-in-council to remove the federal carbon tax.