BC Hydro president and CEO Jessica McDonald addresses a Vancouver Board of Trade luncheon in Vancouver, B.C., on Wednesday January 21, 2015.DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press
BC Hydro is proposing a four per cent hike in rates effective in April that would add $4 to most monthly bills.
Jessica McDonald, BC Hydro's president and CEO, announced the measure on Friday, indicating the proposed rate increase was consistent with a 10-year plan announced in 2013.
"The 10-year rates plan is on track," she said.
The utility has submitted the rate proposal to the B.C. Utilities Commission for consideration and approval.
Ms. McDonald noted that changes in the mining and Liquified Natural Gas sectors led BC Hydro to file this rate proposal now as opposed to filing an application for three-year period that would have spanned fiscal 2017 to fiscal 2019.
She said there has been a decline in commodity prices affecting the mining sector and also changing decisions by companies interested in LNG operations in the province.
"We're going to ask for an interim rate increase for just this one year while we rework our forecasts," she said.
NDP MLA Adrian Dix, speaking for the opposition, criticized the rate hike as a "hidden tax increase" that exemplifies the failings of the BC Liberal government to manage the energy file.
"This is another blow to ratepayers who can ill afford it,' Mr. Dix said in a news conference responding to the Hydro announcement.
Ian Bailey