Hydro-Quebec has filed the paperwork for its annual rate hike.
The utility company is asking the province’s energy board for a 3.4 per cent increase effective April 1, 2014.
That increase would translate to an $2 per month in electricity costs for tenants in an apartment, or about $72 per year extra for residents of a midsize home.
However the Quebec Association of Industrial Electricity Consumers (AQCIE) says the rate hike could be higher, pointing out that Hydro-Quebec has made a separate application for a 2.1 percent increase in its rate of return.
The demand for a price hike comes two months after Hydro-Quebec filed predictions that it would run a 50 percent suplus in electrical supply for 2014.
Hydro-Quebec says the major reason for the price increase is because it is required by provincial law to invest in wind farms, and the electricity those wind farms produce is more expensive than its other power sources.
The public utility also said it would normally be asking for a higher rate increase but it expects to save $160 million by making equipment more efficient.
In March, Quebec’s energy board refused Hydro-Quebec’s request to hike bills 3.3 percent, limiting the increase to 2.4 percent.
The government is trying to pressure the utility company to improve its performance.
