Nunavik faces electricity rate hikes, again

Hydro-Québec’s power plant in Kuujjuaq. The power corporation says that rate hikes in Nunavik are warranted. (FILE PHOTO)

Nunavik’s leadership has requested, once again, that Hydro-Québec hold off on rate hikes in the region, because Nunavimmiut already have the highest cost of living Quebec.

Hydro-Québec first proposed a province-wide rate hike of 3.4 per cent for its standard residential power rates in 2013.

But Hydro-Québec uses a two-tiered system, with a secondary rate for any consumption over 30 kilowatts a day.

And the government-owned public utility proposed a second eight per cent rate hike for users in Nunavik who go over that daily usage.

The goal: to apply the hike until the residential rate matches the cost of producing that energy in Nunavik, which the public utility says is about 59 cents per kw/h.

At the time, the Kativik Regional Government and Makivik Corp. called the hike unfair for Nunavimmiut households, noting they consume more energy due to darker winters, colder temperatures and more occupants per household.

So the KRG and Makivik asked Hydro-Québec to hold off on any second portion increase until it could evaluate how Nunavimmiut consume electricity.

But following an audit in six communities last year, Hydro-Québec says the rate hike is still warranted.

A survey of 346 homes in Kuujjuaq, Inukjuak, Puvirnituq, Salluit, Kangirsuk and Kuujjuaraapik found that there is much the region could do to lower its energy consumption.

The power corporation discovered that in the homes it visited, supplementary hearing was associated with increased second tier use.

That means households using generators and space heaters in their garages, sheds or front entrances were the same ones paying the most for electricity, and the ones that could be driving up power consumption across the region.

The audit found that the use of additional heaters in homes it visited was often positioned in the front entrances of homes where the front door did not close properly, causing a draft to enter the home.

But most Nunavimmiut wouldn’t even be aware of their electricity costs, since the majority of people in the region live in social housing, and do not pay electricity bills directly to Hydro-Québec.

Energy use in general does not appear to be well understood, the power corporation said of the homes it visited.

“Consequently, the idea of saving electricity means nothing concrete to most people,” the report noted.

“It seems that most people don’t understand that there are costs associated with the production and consumption of electricity or that the supply is limited.”

Given the results, Hydro-Québec has set up a committed with the KRG and the Kativik Municipal Housing Bureau to find ways to implement energy efficiency programs in Nunavik.

Already, Hydro-Québec has run a program to help Nunavik communities change from traditional light bulbs to longer-life and lower-energy LED bulbs.

The proposed hike for the region is now 1.7 per cent for standard domestic rates, says the government-owned public utility, plus an eight per cent rate increase to the second tier usage over 30 kilowatts.

The KRG and Makivik have contested the hike to Quebec’s Energy Board, which is hearing from both sides this month, and is expected to deliver its decision in early 2016.