B-C residents will pay substantially more to heat their homes with natural gas starting April 1st.The B-C Utilities Commission has given Terasen Gas permission to raise its rates by 11 per cent.It means the average residential customer will see bills jump twenty dollars to 147-dollars per year in Metro Vancouver, the Fraser Valley, Interior, North and Kootenay regions.Vancouver Island, the Sunshine Coast, and Powell River are covered by a separate regulatory agreement and customers in those areas will see an increase of 3.5 per cent, or 33 dollars a year, depending on consumption levels. (The Canadian Press)
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Under the franchise agreement with the city, the city stands to increase its revenue from the company through this latest increase.
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Don Quixote Note:
A HIDDEN TAX in your GAS BILL.
UPDATE OF OLD ARTICLE: If you live in Vernon or Coldstream take a good look at your Terasen Gas Bill. You will have a 3.09% Franchise fee charged on it. This is 3.09% of the total that you pay for gas consumed and delivered. To make it more crazy the Federal Govt charges you GST on the Franchise Fee.WHERE DOES THIS MONEY GO? If you guessed "my local municipal government" you are correct. Every time the price of gas goes up your City benefits. Remember that next time they complain about gas prices and the effect on arena heating etc. In 2006 the City of Vernon collected $550,000 on this fee. Total since 2000 $3,168,152
Estimate was for $570,000 in 2007 when it is complete and $570,000 has been budgeted for 2008. (This 2008 budgeted amount can be confirmed as to exact amount in early 2008 with a phone call to Terasen as they accumulate the money in an account at year end and pay the City on Nov. 1 of 2008. They get free use of the money for 10 months. )
For those blogreaders in Coldstream the franchise fee is $154,000 in 2007 with same amount budgeted for 2008.
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