The QEC rate application at a glance

Why is a rate increase needed?

* The power corporation needs $77 million a year to buy fuel, pay its workers, buy supplies, and upgrade its equipment. Under the current rate system, the corporation will fall short of that by $19 million a year.

What could we pay in the future?

The proposed territorial-wide rates:

* Residential: 53.33 cents per kilowatt-hour;
* Commercial: 49.83 cents per kilowatt-hour.
* The new rates would apply to all customers in all communities. All other administrative fees and charges, including connection fees, would remain the same.

What are we paying now?

On average, Nunavut power customers pay 47.8 cents a kilowatt-hour.

Sample rates from today:

The highs

* Whale Cove: 85.9 cents per kilowatt-hour for commercial customers, 72.5 cents per kilowatt-hour for residential customers;
* Kimmirut: 64.1 cents per kilowatt-hour for commercial customers, 73.4 cents per kilowatt-hour for residential customers.

The lows

* Iqaluit: 25.9 cents per kilowatt-hour for commercial customers, 31.6 cents per kilowatt-hour for residential customers;
* Rankin Inlet: 30 cents per kilowatt-hour for commercial customers, 32.8 cents per kilowatt-hour for residential customers.

How we are subsidized

* Public housing tenants — pay an $18 minimum charge, plus a rate of only 6 cents per kilowatt-hour. This subsidy costs the territorial government about $9 million a year.
* Customers in privately-owned units, on territorial support — pay a rate of only 15.22 cents a kilowatt-hour on the first 700 kilowatt-hours they consume per month. They pay the full rate on any power consumed beyond the 700-kilowatt cap.

Source: The Qulliq Energy Corp.’s general rate application, made on behalf of the Nunavut Power Corp.