B.C. Hydro’s 28 per cent rate increase will cost the Burnaby school district a decent chunk of change.
B.C. Hydro is planning to increase electricity rates by 28 per cent over the next five years for all customers. The hike is part of a 10-year plan for B.C. Hydro to invest in aging assets and new infrastructure, while trying to keep rates as low as possible.
Secretary-treasurer Greg Frank said the rate hikes would cost the Burnaby district $32,000 for this budget year, which ends in June 2014, and the following fiscal year will cost about $144,000.
“Currently we spend about $1.2 million a year, so it’s a fairly significant increase,” he said.
Frank outlined a number of measures the district has undertaken to reduce electricity costs already, including lighting upgrades, installing devices that shut down idle computers, and bringing teams into school to find new ways to reduce energy consumption.
“We’ve done a lot, and we continue to work in that area and look for new ideas, and feel there’s till room for improvement,” he said.
Frank pointed out that the Burnaby school district is the only organization in the public or private sector that’s been in the top 10 “Power Smart” performing companies three years in row.
For school board chair Baljinder Narang, the hikes are an added cost when times are already tight.
“With a hike like that, we are really challenged on how we are going to find more funding to cover this cost. The important thing is we always have other budgetary costs we have to cover as well, so next year will be extremely challenging for the board,” she said. “We need to be funded adequately, and I’m wondering if that’s ever going to happen.”
All school districts receive fixed funding from the Education Ministry, and they are required by law to balance the budget, so added cost pressures have to be dealt with by finding savings elsewhere.
“It’s pretty devastating at the board trying to make these choices,” Narang said. “Hopefully we’ll have a decent winter.”
