NDP petition urges return to regulated power prices

Alberta's opposition NDP says it plans to make high electricity prices a doorstep issue in the next general election.

Leader Brian Mason says they have launched an online petition urging Albertans to push the provincial government to re-regulate the industry and bring prices back under control.

Mason says NDP candidates will have those petitions in hand when they go door knocking in the next campaign.

By law, the vote must be held sometime in March, April, or May.

Mason says his party has been receiving scores of letters and emails from residents angry over electricity bills that fluctuate wildly but are trending upward.

This month, those not on fixed rate contracts will pay a record 15 cents a kilowatt-hour — double compared with the same time period a year earlier.