VICTORIA – The B.C. Liberals are trying to sneak through a 29 per cent electricity rate hike, demanding B.C. Hydro deliver an extra $254 million to government in the next year alone, says MLA Gary Coons.
“Immediately after a provincial budget that offered nothing for the B.C. economy , and nothing for rural BC, beyond a new, damaging consumer tax in the HST, B.C. Hydro is applying to charge you an extra nine per cent this year on your hydro bill, with huge hits to come over the next two years,” said Coons. “BC Hydro has applied for the increase with the B.C. Utilities Commission with full approval from Gordon Campbell!
“The government is trying to claim the increase is to pay for infrastructure upgrades, but that is only part of the story. The fact is, the B.C. Liberals are sneaking in what amounts to a tax increase by demanding that B.C. Hydro pay the government an extra $254 million this year, and B.C. Hydro has no choice but to pass on that increased cost to British Columbians. If you thought your hydro bills were high now wait till this government wallops you with their 29% increase.”
The provincial government’s three year fiscal plan, laid out in yesterday’s budget, calls for B.C. Hydro to increase electricity rates by 9.11 per cent this year, 12.92 per cent in 2011, and 4.81 per cent in 2012, which, compounded, amounts to a 29 per cent hike.
Coons noted that even though the rate increases have not yet been approved by the BCUC, the revenue assumptions in the B.C. Liberals’ budget include the 29 per cent rate hike.
“In the same breath of hiking your hydro rates , the BC Liberals are also looting the Insurance Corporation of B.C. to pad provincial coffers when it could have been cutting auto insurance rates,” says Coons.
“Gordon Campbell will take $778 million from ICBC reserve funds over the next three years to pad a “shister” budget that is just a shell game,” says Coons. “The only conclusion a reasonable person can draw is that the finance minister is using this to patch some of the holes in his dismal budget that that was just presented.”
The three quarters of a billion dollars could have been returned to British Columbians to reduce auto insurance premiums for drivers but the finance minister choose to tell motorists in British Columbia to take a hike instead of allowing the (ICBC) board the option of giving further rebates. These latest manipulations highlight how out of touch this government really is.