Power rate rises by 2.5 per cent for NTPC customers

Customers of the Northwest Territories Power Corporation will pay 2.5 per cent more for electricity, effective immediately, following a decision by the NWT Public Utilities Board to approve an interim rate increase.

The N.W.T. power corporation's chief financial officer, Paul Grant, said the corporation faces pressures such as inflation.

He said the corporation has tried to mitigate rate increases.

"Luckily we've been able to make sure that the increase has actually been below ... inflation," Grant said.

Grant said the corporation's $204-million debt is primarily from the past and isn't driving the rate increase. 

The rate approval is part of the general rate application process, said the power corporation in a Tuesday news release, and came into effect as of May 1.

The final decision will eventually be posted on the Public Utilities Board website. 

Power rates are going up 2.5 per cent in the Snare, Taltson and Thermal (including Norman Wells) zones. 

The power corporation created a chart of hypothetical bills for a residential customer consuming 600 kilowatt hours monthly in the non-winter months, factoring in the territory's power support program. 

The power corporation did not chart out what increases will look like during winter months. 

Final rates and approval will be determined by the Public Utilities Board once it considers information it receives through the general rate application review process.

During that process, the board can approve interim rates to offset forecast cost increases.

The power corporation is a subsidiary of NT Hydro which is fully owned by the N.W.T. government.