No general rate increase next year for Maritime Electric customers, but future hikes on horizon
CBC
Maritime Electric customers on Prince Edward Island won’t have to worry about a rate hike in 2026 — at least not for now.
The utility has not submitted an application to the Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission for a general rate increase in 2026, the regulator confirmed.
In an email to CBC News, IRAC said Maritime Electric’s rate applications have generally followed a “fairly regular pattern” in recent years, with filings often submitted in the summer months and new rates — when approved — typically taking effect by March of the following year.
Robert Mitchell, leader of the P.E.I. Liberal Party, said keeping rates steady is good news for Islanders, especially as more people are using electricity to power heat pumps and electric vehicles.
“The longer that's delayed, the better it is for households in Prince Edward Island that use electricity in many different and new ways over the last five years,” Mitchell told CBC News.
Electricity rates already rose by 2.7 per cent this year as part of a multi-year rate plan Maritime Electric submitted to IRAC three years ago and had approved.
That plan included annual rate increases and set electricity rates from May 1, 2023, to Feb. 28, 2026.
Maritime Electric president and CEO Jason Roberts said that with rates holding steady, the company is keeping a close eye on its expenses.
“In today's world, everybody's, you know, striving to stretch a dollar as far as we can. And we're doing the same thing,” Roberts said.
Still, future increases may be on the horizon.
Roberts said the company is still dealing with several major cost pressures, including expenses related to post-tropical storm Fiona in 2022. Maritime Electric currently has an application before IRAC to recover about $37 million in Fiona restoration costs through a customer rate increase.
That application was submitted two years ago, and the company is waiting for a decision from IRAC.
Roberts added that there are also unrecovered energy supply costs from the past couple of years.
Energy supply costs, he said, are passed directly to customers, with Maritime Electric making no profit.
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