Snow removal prices rise on P.E.I. as diesel dominates industry

As prices rise across basically all industries, the ripple effect has found its way to customers of snow removal businesses on P.E.I.

With the Island's first snowfall getting closer every day, businesses are preparing for the snow removal season ahead and with the increased cost of diesel, insurance, repairs and more, customers will likely see an uptick on their bill.

For Dickieson's Snow Removal, which operates in the Charlottetown and Cornwall areas, that means an increase of more than $100 in costs to customers for snow removal this year. A regular single-lane driveway, non-priority, ran around $414 last year taxes in. This year it's about $529 after taxes.

"We had to bite the bullet and put our prices up, there was just no other option," said Corey Nicholson, co-owner of the business. "It was definitely something we didn't want to do, but the only way we're going to be here is if we did it."

The cost of diesel is really affecting us.— Kim Kennedy

Nicholson said customers have been understanding when they hear about the price increase. His business has around 20 plow operators. Running a fleet of vehicles, Nicholson said he hopes fuel prices stay around the same through the winter. 

The business model mostly has customers pay their fee in advance of the season (usually in the fall), so if there are more unexpected gas or diesel hikes in January, February or March, snow removal businesses will have to eat that extra expense.

"We don't know what we're going to be paying in March for fuel … we're hoping that fuel stays around the same," Nicholson said.

'There's not much we can do'

CBC News spoke to several plow operators who are all seeing the same thing regarding price increases. 

Kim Kennedy is the co-owner of Thane's Snow Removal in Cornwall. Compared to other snow removal businesses, they only have the one plow so they aren't paying gas, diesel and insurance for a whole fleet — but they're still just as impacted by the issues facing the industry.

"The cost of diesel is really affecting us," Kennedy said. "Everything is costing us more."

Regularly they'd charge $390 per customer to plow a driveway. This year it's up to $460.

Kennedy said each year they change their fee by a per cent or two at most. But this year it's a 15 per cent increase. 

"We're looking at diesel rates of approximately twice as much this year as they were last year, and the forecast for the diesel rates is not to go down — it's definitely to go up even more," she said. "We're looking at much higher rates and there's not much we can do about that I guess."

Kennedy said she and her husband have talked about shifting their business model at some point in the future, perhaps "putting a cap" on the number of storms they can feasibly clear with the rates they charge.

"You can't just offer an unlimited service when your service is such an unpredictable expense rate," she said. 

Kennedy said people have been calling as early as August to see what her business is charging this year for snow removal. Like Nicholson, she said she hasn't received a single complaint. People understand why prices are rising across the industry.

"Everyone, I think, gets it. Everyone understands," she said.