Elevate your local knowledge

Sign up for the iNFOnews newsletter today!

Select Region

Selecting your primary region ensures you get the stories that matter to you first.

The price of electricity on the rise in Penticton

The price of electricity on the rise in Penticton | iNFOnews.ca
File photo. Steve Arstad

PENTICTON – The cost of electrictiy in Penticton is going up by 4.4 per cent as of Feb. 1.

The 4.4 per cent rate hike works out to about $4.50 more a month for the average residential customer and is the result of a 4.55 per cent B.C. Hydro rate hike.

Pencticton city councillors decided how to pass along the rate increase at a special meeting held on Wednesday, Jan. 7. at which fewer than a dozen people showed up. Council debated three possible alternatives for the rate increase which it originally discussed at a Dec. 15, 2014 budget meeting.

The three options they looked at were a retail, wholesale or “blended” increase. Council voted in favour of the "blended" rate hike.

A rate increase at the retail power sale level would have meant a total increase of 5.11 per cent, while a hike at the wholesale power purchase level would have resulted in an increase of 3.7 per cent.

“The blended option keeps costs in line, while also being less of a burden on the consumer,” city communications manager Simone Blais says. She added the revenue derived from a blended rate also helps to fund city infrastructure.

To contact the reporter for this story, email Steve Arstad at sarstad@infonews.ca or call 250-488-3065. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.

News from © iNFOnews.ca, . All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Tags
Steve Arstad

By Steve Arstad

I have been looking for news in the South Okanagan - SImilkameen for 20 years, having turned a part time lifelong interest into a full time profession. After five years publishing a local newsletter, several years working as a correspondent / stringer for several local newspapers and seven years as editor of a Similkameen weekly newspaper, I joined iNFOnews.ca in 2014. My goal in the news industry has always been to deliver accurate and interesting articles about local people and places. My interest in the profession is life long - from my earliest memories of grade school, I have enjoyed writing.
As an airborne geophysical surveyor I travelled extensively around the globe, conducting helicopter borne mineral surveys.
I also spent several years at an Okanagan Falls based lumber mill, producing glued-wood laminated products.
As a member of the Kaleden community, I have been involved in the Kaleden Volunteer Fire Department for 22 years, and also serve as a trustee on the Kaleden Irrigation District board.
I am currently married to my wife Judy, of 26 years. We are empty-nesters who enjoy living in Kaleden with our Welsh Terrier, Angus, and cat, Tibbs.
Our two daughters, Meagan and Hayley, reside in Richmond and Victoria, respectively.

Steve Arstad's Stories

Related Articles