A Break on Your Power Bills | Thursday, June 11, 2009

Starting on July 1, you'll see a new rebate on your residential power bills. The Yukon government is doing away with the existing electrical subsidy, known as the Rate Stabilization Fund, and replacing it with a new program called the Interim Electrical Rebate. It will give you a maximum rebate of $26.62 per month on the first 1,000 kilowatt hours you use. This is an increase from the maximum monthly subsidy of $18.67 provided under the Rate Stabilization Fund.

If you'd like to know more about this fund, you're asked to call the Yukon government at (867) 633-7949 or email roxanne.vallevand@gov.yk.ca.

The Updated Bottom Line | Monday, May 11, 2009

A couple of months ago, we provided some information on this blog about bill changes you've experienced over the last several months and what you might expect to see in the future. Since that time, there have been some new developments that have changed the numbers. We wanted you to be aware of these changes.

As we did in the original blog posting, we'll use the example of a homeowner who uses 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity each month (the average usage in Yukon is about 750 kilowatt hours per month).

Last July, this person’s bill would have been $132.80, including GST.

The Yukon Electrical Company Ltd. asked the Yukon Utilities Board to approve an 11 percent increase in rates. While the YUB considered the request, it approved on an interim basis an increase of five percent, starting on August 1 of last year.

Assuming our sample homeowner used the same amount of power in August as in July, their bill increased to $138.60.

Then Yukon Energy asked for a rate decrease of 17.8 percent for residential customers using 1,000 kilowatt hours or less a month. While the YUB considered our request, it approved an interim decrease of 3.48 percent, starting December 1, 2008.

As a result, our homeowner’s bill decreased to $134.56 starting in December. Again, this is based on 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity used.

Are you still with us? There’s more!

Early this year, the two utilities announced that the Fuel Adjustment Rider (Rider F) had been reduced to zero for bills starting March 1, 2009, and continuing until the YUB determines Yukon Electrical Company Ltd.‘s final rates. This will save our sample homeowner $19.53 per month during this period, decreasing his or her monthly bill to $115.03. With this change, power bills are lower today than at any time since at least January 2006. And they may go even lower soon.

We are still waiting to learn the final amount that the Yukon Electrical Company Ltd. will be allowed to charge its customers. But based on a recent ruling from the Yukon Utilities Board, the Yukon Electrical Company Ltd. will not receive the full 11 percent increase it asked for. Instead, the revised rate changes that have been proposed would see the homeowner's bill dropping to $114.05 a month.

There's one more piece to this puzzle. The Rate Stabilization Program is a Yukon government subsidy you will notice on your power bill. The program is scheduled to end in July of this year. If that happens in combination with Yukon Energy’s request for a 17.8 percent decrease and all other expected rate changes, the monthly bill for a residential customer using 100 kilowatt hours of power in a billing period would be $115.44.

The bottom line for Yukon Energy is that we're doing everything within our power to keep your electric bills as low as possible.

Bill Comparisons | Tuesday, April 7, 2009

We thought you might find it useful to see how Yukon power bills compare with those in the rest of Canada, and across the North. You can see that we are the least expensive location in the North, and we are on par with a number of Southern locations. The blue portion of the chart indicates the average monthly total amount of a customer's bill; the red portion indicates any rate subsidy provided.

Our Rate Application Explained | Friday, March 27, 2009

One of the benefits of our new transmission line from Carmacks to Pelly Crossing is that it has allowed us to ask for a rate decrease. Before the line was built, we promised to pass along to Yukoners some of the additional revenue we would receive as a result of gaining a new customer, the Minto mine, through the construction of the Carmacks to Pelly line. That’s why in October of last year we asked our regulator, the Yukon Utilities Board, to approve changes to our rates that would result in an overall saving to Yukoners this year of more than $1.3 million. 

We wanted to go further than just passing along revenues from the Minto mine. We wanted to provide the biggest reduction possible to the largest number of Yukoners possible. That’s why we have proposed changes to our rate structure that will reward those who practice energy conservation. Here’s how it works: rates would be substantially reduced by 17.8 percent for a household’s ‘first block’ energy charges; for the first 1,000 kilowatt hours per month of energy used. ‘Second block’ energy charges (energy over 1,000 kilowatt hours a month) would increase, the amount dependant on the amount of energy used. All the added money we would receive from ‘second block’ charges would go to further reducing ‘first block’ rates. Since most households stay within that first block of 1,000 kilowatt hours a month (the average monthly usage is about 750 kilowatt hours) this method would allow more Yukoners to benefit from greater savings.

Two tiered rate structures are not new. Similar systems are used by utilities right across the country, and Yukon Energy has had a two-tiered system in place for many years in which the second block is at a higher rate than the first.

It was important to us to encourage energy conservation though this application. There is a growing demand for electricity in Yukon. While we are aggressively looking for new renewable power to meet this demand, this process takes time. In the absence of new generation, we face the prospect within a few years of running out of hydro and turning on our diesels. That’s why it’s important to us that we send price signals to encourage energy conservation. Conservation is the cleanest and least expensive way to meet the increase demand for electricity (think of it as building a virtual dam). And it’s easier than you might think…turning the thermostat down one degree saves 400 kilowatt hours per year; washing clothes in cold water saves as much as 720 kilowatt hours. Hanging clothes to dry even half the time saves another 520 kilowatt hours.

However if our proposal is approved, there will still be some overall savings for residential customers who use up to about 1,300 kilowatt hours per month. For example, if you use 1,000 kilowatt hours per month you will see a reduction of $22.26 on your bill; if you consume 1,300 kilowatt hours you will still save $1.16 per month. Once you start using more than that, you will have to bear an increase. At 1,400 kilowatt hours a month, you will pay $5.88 more per bill. If you use 1,500 kilowatt hours, you will face increases of $12.91 a month.

The Yukon Utilities Board Response
In November last last year, the Yukon Utilities Board said it wanted to wait for a future hearing to consider the rate adjustments we have proposed for ‘first block’ and ‘second block’ customers. In the meantime, the Board has ordered us to implement an interim rate reduction of 3.48 percent. The interim rates went into effect on December 1, 2008.

The Utilities Board hasn’t said an outright ‘no’ to our request. It’s merely said it doesn’t want to make a decision about our proposal at this time.

The oral public hearings for our rate application are set for this coming May. We hope that at that time, the Utilities Board will be open to considering our proposal.

The Bottom Line | Wednesday, March 25, 2009

In an earlier posting we talked about the fact that Yukon Energy has asked our regulator, the Yukon Utilities Board (YUB), for a decrease in rates, while Yukon Electrical Ltd. has asked for a rate increase. One of you wrote that the total amount on your electric bill is all that’s really important.

Today we’re going to speak about that bottom line. We will try to shed some light on the changes you’ve seen in your power bills over the last several months, and changes that are still to come. A warning that we are going throw a lot of numbers at you, but bear with us…we will try to keep the ‘head swimming’ factor to a minimum.

Let’s take an example of a homeowner who uses 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity each month (the average usage in Yukon is about 750 kilowatt hours per month).

Last July, this person’s bill would have been $132.80, including GST.

The Yukon Electrical Company Ltd. asked the Yukon Utilities Board to approve an 11 percent increase in rates. While the YUB considered the request, it approved on an interim basis an increase of five percent, starting on August 1 of last year.

Assuming our sample homeowner used the same amount of power in August as in July, their bill increased to $138.60.

Then Yukon Energy asked for a rate decrease of 17.8 percent for residential customers using 1,000 kilowatt hours or less a month. While the YUB considered our request, it approved an interim decrease of 3.48 percent, starting December 1, 2008.

As a result, our homeowner’s bill decreased to $134.56 starting in December. Again, this is based on 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity used.

If the Yukon Utilities Board had approved Yukon Energy’s request for a 17.8 percent decrease, our homeowner would have seen their bill reduced to $116.34 a month.

Are you still with us? There’s more as we look beyond the end of 2008!

The Rate Stabilization Program is a Yukon government subsidy you will notice on your power bill. The program is scheduled to end in July of this year. If that happens in combination with Yukon Energy’s request for a 17.8 percent decrease and all other rates in effect prior to last December, our homeowner’s bill would be $135.84.

The two utilities have announced that the Fuel Adjustment Rider (Rider F) has been reduced to zero for bills starting March 1, 2009, until the Yukon Electrical Company Ltd.‘s final rates are determined. This will save our homeowner $19.53 per month during this period.

We are still waiting to learn the final amount that the Yukon Electrical Company Ltd. will be allowed to charge its customers. But based on a recent ruling from the Yukon Utilities Board, the Yukon Electrical Company Ltd. will not receive the full 11 percent increase it asked for. Yukoners should know within a few months what the final numbers will be.

It’s important to us that you understand we have no control over what Yukon Electrical Company Ltd. is allowed to charge by the Yukon Utilities Board. We don’t have control over the fate of the Rate Stabilization Fund either. But in the areas we can control, Yukon Energy is doing everything we can to keep electrical rates as low as possible for the greatest number of Yukoners possible.

In our next posting we will talk more about the rate changes we have asked our regulator to approve and we’ll explain the rationale behind our request.

Note that one of you recently asked what your bill might look like if you used between 1,300 and 1,800 kilowatt hours per month. We will address this issue of ‘second block’ electricity usage in our next posting as well. Please keep those questions coming; we will try to answer each and every one of them.

The “Equalized Rate System” Explained | Monday, February 23, 2009

Today we’re tackling a question we’ve often been asked over the last few months:

If I’m a Yukon Energy customer, why do I have to pay any rate increases approved for Yukon Electrical Company Ltd?

It’s a good question! In Yukon, we have what’s known as an equalized rate system. That means that no matter where people live (whether they live in a community served by hydro or by diesel) and no matter who provides them with power (Yukon Electrical Company Ltd. or Yukon Energy) residential customers will pay the same rate for their first 1,000 kilowatt hours a month of electricity. Business customers will pay the same rate for their first 2,000 kilowatt hours per month of electricity.

If Yukon Electrical Company Ltd. is granted the rate increase it has recently asked for, all Yukoners will see that increase on their bills. If Yukon Energy is granted the rate decrease we’ve applied for, all Yukoners will see that decrease reflected on their bills.

So what’s the bottom line for you? Watch for a future posting when we’ll try to answer that question.

Reading Your Power Bill | Thursday, February 19, 2009

Confused about all those charges on your electric bill? Today we’ll walk you through how to read your bill. It would be best if you had your latest power bill in front of you, so you can follow along as you read this. If you don’t have one, you can use the sample bill provided here.

It makes no difference whether your power supplier is Yukon Energy or Yukon Electrical Company; both bills have the same charges and the same lay-out.

 
1. Statement Account: This is your account number. Have that number ready if you have questions for your service provider about your bill.
      
 
2. Reading/Codes: This is your meter reading. It shows how much energy you used during the billing period. An ‘A’ beside the number indicates this is an actual meter reading. An ‘E’ shows a reading has been estimated. A reading is estimated if the meter reader wasn’t able to reach your meter for some reason (heavy snow, etc.).
      
 
3. Energy Used (kWh): This shows the amount of electricity you used during the billing period. In the case of the sample bill, this household used 826 kilowatt hours (kWh) in a month. The average monthly usage per household is about 700 kWh.
      
 
4. Consumption by Bill Cycle Chart: This chart shows you how much electricity you use each month. The month is represented by the letter below it (O is for October for example)
      
 
5. Balance Forward: This will show if you have any money owning from previous months.
      
 
6. Customer Charge: This covers a portion of the cost for assets such as powerlines and generation stations. This charge applies even if no power is used.
      
 
7. Energy Charge: The cost of the electricity you have used. If you’re a residential customer, you are charged 9.86 cents per kilowatt hour for the first 1,000 kilowatt hours a month (this is referred to as the ‘first block’ rate). For each kilowatt hour you use above 1,000 (the ‘second block’), you are charged 10.45 cents if you live in a community served by hydro power, 12.36 cents if you live in a diesel community, or 25.77 cents if you live in Old Crow.
      
 
8. Fuel Adjustment Rider: This is the first of a series of riders you will see on your bill. Riders are temporary adjustments on electrical bills. They may be a rebate or they may collect money from customers. They are put in place to adjust for factors that were not anticipated when the electrical rate was established. The Fuel Adjustment Rider reflects the difference between the cost of using diesel to generate power in 1997 (the last time rates were set) and today.
      
 
9. Rate Stabilization Fund: This is a subsidy provided by the Yukon government. It was implemented in 1998 after the Faro mine closed to protect customers from significant bill increases that would have resulted from that shutdown. The subsidy is scheduled to end on July 1 of this year.
      
 
10. YEC Revenue Shortfall Rider: You might know this as Rider J. Yukon Energy needs a certain amount of money to pay its expenses. All customers contribute to that pot of money, including the Faro mine when it was in operation. When the mine closed permanently in 1998, Yukon Energy still had to cover its expenses, but with fewer customers. Rider J covers ongoing fixed Yukon Energy costs that can no longer be charged to the Faro mine.
     
      Last year, Yukon Energy asked for a rate decrease. The Yukon Utilities Board is still considering that request. In the meantime, it has approved an interim decrease in Rider J of 3.48 percent.
       
 
11. YECL Interim Revenue Shortfall Rider: This is also known as Rider R. Yukon Electrical Company has asked for a rate increase. While the Yukon Utilities Board considers its request, it has been granted an interim rate increase of five percent.
       
 
12. Yukon Rebate of Income Tax: The Yukon government refunds part of the income tax paid by Yukon Electrical Company. That money is then passed on to customers.

Next time we’ll address a question that we have been asked quite often: “If I’m a Yukon Energy customer, why do I have to pay the five percent interim rate increase that has been given to Yukon Electrical Company? Shouldn’t it just be Yukon Electrical Company customers paying that increase?”