We recently came across a Hydro Quebec publication that provided a comparison of the average electricity costs for customers in major North American cities. While it did not include Yukon, we have added the territory's residential rate on this map. You can see that Yukon residential customers currently pay 11.02 cents per kilowatt hour with the Yukon government's Interim Electrical Rebate (a subsidy provided to all residential customers for the first 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity used each month). That's the same rate that residents of St. John's pay and is less than that paid by residents in Charlottetown, Moncton, Halifax, Ottawa, Toronto and Calgary. It is much less than what residential customers pay in most major cities in the United States.
Without the subsidy, Yukon residential customers would pay 13.68 cents per kilowatt hour of power, which is still less than homeowners or renters in Charlottetown and in most major U.S. cities pay.
The complete Hydro Quebec report can be found here.
by Pat McMahon
I have never understood the value behind comparing vastly different jurisdictions. What is the point to comparing Yukon electricity prices with those of various cities in the U.S. and Canada without understanding how the Yukon stands up with respect to legislation, regulatory regime, taxes, subsidies, generation types and distribution set-up? You are taking everything out of context and trying to justify the Yukon’s electricity rates by comparing to those that are set in completely different regulatory arenas for which you provide no detail. Unless there is an explanation for what is driving the rates in the Yukon versus other jurisdictions, this appears to be a weak attempt to put the Yukon on a map it doesn’t belong and mislead your ratepayers.
10.30.2010
by Yukon Energy
We are often asked questions about how our rates compare with other places in Canada, so this was a way of providing people with a snapshot. While there may be some differences among jurisdictions I still think this information is of value and interest to Yukon ratepayers. If you look at Appendix D in the Hydro Quebec report, it provides some context regarding the utilities listed in this comparative report.
10.30.2010
2 comments
Commenting is not available in this channel entry.