B.C. energy minister says hydro rates will increase, but can’t say by how much

VICTORIA – Energy Minister Bill Bennett says British Columbians should prepare themselves for BC Hydro rate increases.

Bennett says nobody should be surprised to learn that the Crown corporation is facing cost pressures and power rates will need to go up.

But he doesn’t say how much the rates will increase or when.

Bennett says British Columbians currently pay the fourth lowest power rates in North America, but major infrastructure projects, that include costly power dam refits, are putting upward pressure on rates.

The Opposition New Democrats have suggested that rates are going up because of cost overruns of more than $140 million on the construction of the Northwest Transmission line.

In 2011, the B.C. government rejected a proposed rate increase of up to 50 per cent over five years and instead announced a review of hydro.