Nunavik spared steeper electricity bills

Nunavik has avoided a significant increase to electricity rates following a decision by the Quebec Energy Board, effective Dec. 1.

Hydro-Québec applied in 2018 to increase the second tier of electricity rates, which kick in after a certain level of consumption is surpassed in a day.

Under that threshold, electricity costs Nunavimmiut about 6 cents per kilowatt hour. That’s the same as the rest of the province.

But a second-tier rate applies once the threshold is crossed. South of the 53^rd parallel, the second rate is about 9 cents per kilowatt hour after 40 kilowatt hours are passed. Across Nunavik, that second-tier rate is over 41 cents per kilowatt hour.

Hydro-Québec applied to the provincial energy regulator for an 8 per cent increase to that second-tier pricing, which would bring the rate up to about 45 cents per kilowatt hour.

In its decision released on Oct. 23, the QEB rejected the proposed increase and raised Nunavik’s threshold between first- and second-rate consumption to 40 kilowatt hours, up from 30 kilowatt hours.

This higher threshold is in line with the rest of the province and was supported by Hydro-Québec throughout hearings on the proposed rate changes for Nunavik.

The energy board said that it considered Nunavik’s special circumstances when making its decision.

“Although the evidence indicates that the socio-economic and climatic context of Nunavik can justify the increase of the threshold of the first-tier rate, the Distributor affirms that its position is first and foremost based on the notion of equity,” said the QEB report, translated into English.

The Kativik Regional Government and Makivik Corp. have argued in various presentations to the energy board over the past five years that the region is receiving inequitable treatment when it comes to the cost of electricity.

Nunavik is the only region in Quebec with such a drastically higher second tier. That includes areas like Magdalen Island, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, that also relies on power produced independent of Quebec’s grid.

But it’s expensive to produce power in northern communities that are entirely reliant on diesel generators.

The many Nunavik residents who live in social housing don’t receive power bills—their utility costs are rolled into their rent.

But a rate hike would certainly have been felt by the Kativik Municipal Housing Bureau, and that money would have to be made up somewhere.

According to Hydro-Québec’s website, customers in Nunavik typically only use between 15 and 22 kilowatt hours per day, depending on the time of year.

That would increase during winter months, as temperatures drop and sunlight dwindles.

The increased second rates for electricity are intended to promote conservation where possible.