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THURSDAY NOVEMBER 29, 2018
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LOCAL NEWS – LOCAL MATTERS
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NewWestRecord.ca N E W S P A P E R
Utilities rate hikes coming Theresa McManus tmcmanus@newwestrecord.ca
New Westminster city council has approved inprinciple rate adjustments for the water, sewer and solid waste utilities. But it stopped short of raising electrical utility rates. Staff will prepare bylaws needed to amend the utility rates to incorporate a sevenper-cent increase to each of the water and sewer utilities (with similar increases projected annually until 2023) and a 12-per-cent increase to the solid waste utility (with another 12-per-cent increase projected in 2020 and eight-per-cent increases forecast in years 2021 to 2023). The utilities budgets included in the draft five-year financial plan are based on projections using best estimates of future events that may affect the budget, such as annual wage increments, increased fees charged by Metro Vancouver and BC Hydro, and infrastructure replacement, said a staff report. Council, however, held off on approving in-principle a proposed four-percent increase to the electrical utility. Instead, it’s considering a change in the way it calculates electricity rates. The city’s electrical utility buys electricity from BC Hydro and resells it to New West residents and businesses. While the city is anticipating BC Hydro’s rate increase to be three-per-cent annually from 2019 to 2023, staff recommended
the city adopt increases of four-per-cent annually for the next five years to offset increased operating expenses and to fund the capital program. Coun. Patrick Johnstone said the city’s longstanding practice has been to charge electrical rates in New Westminster that are the same that customers in Burnaby, Coquitlam or other communities would get from BC Hydro. Since the city can buy electricity at a wholesale price and sell it at a retail price, Johnstone said it’s able to make a significant amount of money from that. He said most of that money goes toward the operation of the utility, so it continues to operate and to be sustainable. “But we do also take a dividend,” he added. “As a shareholder, we make a profit every year and that helps offset taxes for the residents of the city. In this proposal, we are talking about raising our electrical rates at a rate that is higher than the proposed increases that BC Hydro is foreseeing for the coming years.” Johnstone said he recognizes the city has “some significant capital costs” to deal with in the coming years, including building a new substation and rising costs of maintaining the utility. He suggested the extra costs shouldn’t come from increasing rates above what customers are paying in cities served by BC Hydro, but from the dividends the city receives. Continued on page 10
Finals Bound VICTORY LEAP: New Westminster Secondary School Hyacks wide receiver Matthew Lalim (left) celebrates his touchdown with teammate Arjun Bal late in the team’s 33-0 win over the Terry Fox Ravens in Saturday’s B.C. Secondary Schools Football Association AAA Subway Bowl semifinal at BC Place Stadium. The Hyacks will now defend their title this Saturday. Read more about the game on page 55. PHOTO MARIO BARTEL
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