Natural gas prices down, electricity up in Alberta in February
Global News
The province issued a bulletin, saying February’s default natural gas rate is $3.715 per gigajoule (GJ), well below the $6.50 per GJ triggering rate and January’s $6.446 per GJ.
For a fifth month in a row, natural gas prices in Alberta aren’t high enough to trigger the provincial rebate.
The province issued a bulletin on Thursday saying February’s default natural gas rate is $3.715 per gigajoule (GJ), well below the $6.50 per GJ triggering rate and January’s $6.446 per GJ.
When the natural gas rebate was initially announced, it was set to run for the six-month stretch between September 2022 and March 2023, but the government recently said it would be extended as part of the affordability action plan.
“We look forward to providing more information in the coming months,” Andrea Farmer, press secretary of Affordability and Utilities Minister Matt Jones, said in a statement.
Electricity prices, however, are going in the opposite direction.
Data from the Alberta Utilities Commission on Friday showed the regulated rate option (RRO) – the default rate for electricity customers who aren’t on a contract – went up again.
Enmax customers in Calgary will see RRO prices go from around 27 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) to nearly 29.7 cents per kWh in February. Epcor and Fortis RRO customers can expect prices to rise from 30 cents per kWh to nearly 33 cents per kWh. Direct Energy RRO rates will jump from 27 to 32.7 cents per kWh.
University of Calgary economics assistant professor Blake Shaffer tweeted the rates are new all-time records.