As B.C. Hydro reworks estimates, utility seeks four per cent interim rate hike

VANCOUVER – BC Hydro is calling for an interim, one-year rate increase of four per cent, adding about $4 a month to residential power bills.

Hydro President and CEO Jessica McDonald made the announcement while offering an update on how the Crown utility delivers its 10-year rates plan.

McDonald says the four per cent increase is included in the 10-year plan.

Hydro has applied to the B.C. Utilities Commission for the hike as it crunches numbers after the provincial government deferred hydro increases for B.C.'s mining sector.

McDonald says Hydro originally planned to submit a three-year application for rate increases of three to five per cent, but that request will be delayed for several months.

Hydro says it has to invest an average of $2.4 billion a year in the province's aging electricity system, upgrading facilities built in the 1960s, 70s and 80s.