Royal City residents will be paying more for their utilities in 2017.
Council has directed staff to prepare bylaws to amend the city’s utility rates for 2017. They’ll face a seven per cent increase to the sewer utility, a four per cent hike for the water utility, a 3.5 per cent rise for the electrical utility and a one per cent increase for the solid waste utility.
Rod Carle, general manager of the electrical utility, said the city is following the same rates that B.C. Hydro has submitted to the B.C. Utilities Commission.
While the city is only passing on increases from B.C. Hydro, Coun. Chuck Puchmayr said the rising rates are having an impact in the community. He said B.C. Hydro has been “mismanaged” and citizens are starting to see the effects.
“The rate increases are unprecedented,” he said. “They are really starting to hurt local businesses.”
A staff report states that 79 per cent of the city electrical utility’s operating expenses relate to the purchase of electricity from B.C. Hydro.
On the water front, the city’s water utility buys water from the Greater Vancouver Water District and distributes it to residents and businesses. With the sewerage and draining utility, the city purchases trunk sewerage and wastewater treatment from the Greater Vancouver Sewerage and Drainage District.
In the past, citizens have approached city council about moving to a system of water metering as a way of conserving water.
“At this point we have not concluded that study,” said Eugene Wat, the city’s manager of infrastructure planning. “The study is underway right now.”
