Homeowners hot under collar at high cost of electric heat

I've spent much of the last month shuffling around my century-old ark of a house, turning down thermostats and urging my kids to put on sweaters.

I can't say they've paid a lot of attention to me.

But my oldest son's Grade 4 teacher caught his attention this week with a project that asks the kids to write down every time they turn on an electrical appliance or home heating, and then compare their scores.

It seems a lot of people in B.C. are paying attention to the high costs of low temperatures this winter.

BC Hydro appeared to notice as well, offering a bit of help to customers in the form of an extended six-month time period to pay off expensive winter bills.

Instead of sounding helpful to our listeners, BC Hydro's extension sparked a chorus of complaints about the costs of electricity, especially for people who heat their homes with it.

It's a particularly concerning issue here on Vancouver Island, where natural gas was a relatively recent arrival and where a greater proportion of the population uses electric heating than our neighbours on the mainland.

When I first moved here more than a decade ago, I was surprised by how many homes still had big, bulky, heating oil tanks standing outside.

Since then, many people have responded to ads and incentives from BC Hydro and various levels of government to replace them with more energy-efficient electric heat pumps.

At first, making the switch seemed like an economic win as well as an environmental one.

While many people paid up to $15,000 to upgrade their electrical system and have the heat pumps installed, they quickly saw savings on their monthly bills.

But that was back when electricity cost about six cents per kilowatt hour.

Now it costs at least eight cents per kWh, and thanks to a two-tier rate structure, it costs more than 12 cents for many who heat their homes with electricity.

For many, the rate they pay to heat their homes has doubled.

According to Fortis B.C., which provides customers with both electricity and natural gas, it's now considerably cheaper to heat your home with natural gas than it is with electricity.

Two-tier rate a sore point 

The two-tier rate structure has been a sore point for many islanders since it was introduced in 2008.

When I interviewed a BC Hydro spokesperson this week, frustrated listeners wrote in to let off a little steam.

"I live in a modern home with an Energy Rating of 81," Pamela Day wrote. "We have a heat pump with a back up electric furnace. BC Hydro's green incentive second level pricing would only be an incentive for me to change my back up furnace to gas. That would certainly make financial sense but I cannot see that as a "green" solution."

Frances Hunter estimated she would spend $3,000 on heating this winter, even though her house is well-insulated and she keeps the thermostats low.

"If heating with electricity is such a good idea," she writes, "why are we being punished with the high two-tier pricing?"

BC Hydro addresses the question briefly on its website: "the stepped rate structure provides a price incentive to encourage conservation — which is the cleanest, cheapest and simplest way to meet growing electricity demand."

It is difficult to argue with the logic that making electricity more expensive will encourage people to use less of it.

BC Hydro also points out British Columbians still pay less for electricity than people in many North American cities.

"It does sometimes drive people to natural gas"

Despite the complaints, BC Hydro shows no willingness to change the two-tier rate structure to differentiate people who heat with electricity from other users.

But the provincial government, facing an election in a few months, may be more willing.  

When I spoke to Energy Minister Bill Bennett about this in the fall, he acknowledged the concern.

"One of the inadvertent consequences of this rate," he told me "is that it does sometimes drive people to natural gas and of course gas is the cleanest of the fossil fuels but it's still a fossil fuel."

Bennett has asked the B.C. Utilities Commission to investigate the impact on consumers and it's expected to make an announcement soon.