Calgary to address local access fees at next meeting
Posted Sep 7, 2023 5:20 pm.
Last Updated Sep 7, 2023 5:21 pm.
Utility bills are sky high for many, and that has Calgary City Council investigating any ways they can help to bring them down, including looking at local access fees at their next meeting on Tuesday.
Those fees are tied to Alberta’s regulated rate option (RRO), which has increased dramatically in recent months.
Albertans are charged by power companies on top of fees for the supplied power, and recent reports have suggested Calgarians pay the highest of anywhere in Alberta.
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Mayor Jyoti Gondek says it’s a good time to look at them as power bills skyrocket.
“We need to know the history, we need to know if it’s ever been revisited and why it wasn’t abandoned at that time, and we need to look at whether we are doing the right thing right now for people who are struggling with affordability,” she told reporters Thursday.
“So I think it will be a conversation about some history, some other best practices, and making some decisions moving forward.”
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Council will be hearing more about the fees and whether they could get rid of them or even issue rebates to Calgarians.
Gondek was asked about whether that should be done
“The question is, what would I like to do with the rebate? Yesterday, we had a mid-year performance report. I have no idea what the end figure will be by the time we get to year’s end. That’s when we will debate it as a council. That’s when we will determine what we will do with it,” she said.
Last year, the city collected almost 100 million dollars more than budget estimates in local access fees, with the number likely much higher this year.
