Most FortisBC customers will see a decrease to their gas bills in the New Year

Gas bills will decrease by about four per cent or $4 a month on average

SURREY, BC, Dec. 8, 2022 /CNW/ - As an energy solutions provider regulated by the British Columbia Utilities Commission (BCUC), FortisBC Energy Inc. (FortisBC) reviews its delivery and storage and transport rates each year and its cost of gas rate each quarter with the BCUC. This is done to ensure that the rates charged to customers appropriately recover the costs related to delivering energy safely and reliably. As of January 1, 2023, most FortisBC gas customers will see an overall decrease to their bill of approximately four per cent, or $4 per month depending on consumption.

Historical data for Mainland & Vancouver Island (including North and South interior). (CNW Group/FortisBC Energy Inc.)

"Customers will see an overall decrease because the cost of gas has gone down," said Joe Mazza, vice-president of energy supply and resource development with FortisBC. "It's important to remember, however, that rates reflect more than just the price of the commodity. Our rates also factor in important infrastructure upgrades and maintenance to our system to ensure the safe and reliable delivery of energy to our customers."

As of January 1, 2023:

Mainland and Vancouver Island (including North and South Interior, Whistler and Revelstoke)

Fort Nelson

• Residential customers in the Lower Mainland, Fraser Valley, Interior, North, Whistler, Vancouver Island, Revelstoke and the Kootenays will see an overall monthly decrease of approximately four per cent, or $4 per month based on the average monthly consumption of 7.5 gigajoules (GJs).

• With the approval of common rates with the rest of the province, the result, including the reduction in cost of gas rate, is a small overall increase. For residential customers, monthly bills will increase by approximately $1, a one per cent increase. This is based on an average household consumption of approximately 10 GJs per month.

While the costs related to storing, transporting and delivering gas typically remain in place for the year, FortisBC reviews the cost of gas every quarter with the BCUC and the next review will be in March 2023.

For more information about rates and the components that make up a FortisBC gas bill, visit: fortisbc.com/rates.

About FortisBC

FortisBC Energy Inc. is a regulated utility focused on providing safe and reliable energy, including natural gas, Renewable Natural Gas and propane. FortisBC Energy Inc. employs around 2,078 British Columbians and serves approximately 1,064,800 customers across British Columbia. FortisBC Energy Inc. owns and operates approximately 50,493 kilometres of gas transmission and distribution pipelines. FortisBC Energy Inc. is a subsidiary of Fortis Inc., a leader in the North American regulated electric and gas utility industry. FortisBC Energy Inc. uses the FortisBC name and logo under license from Fortis Inc. For further information on FortisBC, visit www.fortisbc.com. For further information on Fortis Inc., visit www.fortisinc.com.

Backgrounder

RATES AT A GLANCE

Below is the breakdown of residential rates for each region effective January 1, 2023.

Service area	Rate	Change	New rate	Impact to customer
Mainland and Vancouver Island	Delivery	Increase of $0.407 per GJ.	$5.933. per GJ.
	Storage and transport	Decrease of $0.217 per GJ.	$1.134 per GJ.
	Cost of gas	Decrease of $0.748 per GJ.	$5.159 per GJ.
	Basic charge	No change	No change (Current rate of $0.4216 per day).
	Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) customers	Increase of $0.91 per GJ.	$14.718 per GJ.
	Total impact*			Estimated combined decrease of approximately $50 or four per cent to their annual bills (based on an average annual usage of 90 GJ).
Fort Nelson	Delivery	Increase of $0.804 per GJ.	$4.684 per GJ.
	Storage & transport	Decrease of $0.024 per GJ.	$0.057 per GJ.
	Cost of gas	Decrease of $0.838 per GJ.	$5.159 per GJ.
	Basic charge	Increase of 0.0515 per day.	$0.4216 per day.
	Total impact*			Estimated combined increase of approximately $12 or one per cent to their annual bills (based on an average annual usage of 125 GJ).

*Based on average residential annual usage for each region.

Items on a residential gas customer's bill

Daily or monthly basic charge

The basic charge is a flat fee that partially recovers the fixed costs of our system, whether or not you are using any natural gas, as long as you are connected to the system.

Delivery charge

The delivery charge is based on consumption and pays for the cost of safely and reliably delivering gas through our system to our customer's home or business. This helps cover the costs of maintaining our natural gas distribution system, provides a return to our investors and funds improvements to meet customers' needs. Delivery charges are reviewed by the BCUC annually.

Storage and transport

Storage and transport reflects the prices we pay to other companies to store and transport gas through their pipelines and infrastructure. We do not mark up these costs, and they are reviewed quarterly and set annually by the BCUC.

Cost of gas

Every three months, FortisBC reviews the cost of gas rates with the BCUC to make sure rates passed on to customers cover the cost of the commodity purchased on their behalf.  We do not mark up the cost of gas, so customers pay what we pay.

Other charges and taxes

• Factors affecting the market price of natural gas in North America include weather, supply and demand and economic conditions.
• FortisBC does not mark up the cost of gas, customers pay what we pay.

Other charges and taxes include the BC carbon tax, Clean Energy Levy, goods and services tax and, in some municipalities, a municipal operating fee. These charges are set by various levels of government and collected by FortisBC on their behalf. FortisBC does not gain revenue from these charges.

SOURCE FortisBC Energy Inc.

MEDIA CONTACT: Diana Sorace, Corporate Communications Advisor, FortisBC, Phone: [phone], Email: [email protected], fortisbc.com, 24-hour media line: 1-855-322-6397