New legislation to provide electricity rebates for Albertans

The provincial government is introducing legislation to relieve Albertans' rising electricity bills.

Bill 18 (the Utility Commodity Rebate Act) was tabled on Wednesday (Apr. 20) and if passed, would provide $150 in electricity rebates to an estimated 1.9 million Albertans.

It's intended to replace the Natural Gas Price Protection Act, which does not allow rebates for electricity bills.

The bill would see $50 a month for three months provided to customers whose electricity use is under 250-megawatt hours per year, covering most residences, farms, and small businesses.

When asked when Albertans would start to see the rebates on their bills, Natural Gas and Electricity Associate Minister Dale Nally said it might be a few months away.

"The power rebate will be largely dependent on how it takes the utility retailers to be able to adjust their billing systems. We are encouraging the retailers to get this onto people's bills as soon as possible. I'm hopeful that that will be June. For some retailers, it may go into July, but we're asking them to help us turn this around as quickly as possible."

The gas rebate, announced in early March, is to be implemented when natural gas prices exceed $6.50 per gigajoule starting in October.

Gas prices have risen above $6.50 since then, which was not anticipated when the rebate was formulated.

At the moment, the province is working on implementing regulations for both rebates, after which more details would be released. The province has stated that the gas rebate could be implemented sooner than October if prices continue to surge.