Brace your bank accounts. Here's how your taxes and power bills are going up
Gas is expected to rise by 3.26 cents per litre and diesel by just under 4 cents
Temperatures aren't the only thing rising this weekend in Newfoundland and Labrador.
A few things are on the burner, some coming straight from Ottawa.
For those keeping an eye on their bills, here is a list of taxes the residents of N.L. can expect to rise on July 1.
Electricity
Electricity rates are going to increase between 3.4 per cent and 6.7 per cent for residential customers. Commercial users can expect a 7 to 8.4 per cent increase.
Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro made that announcement earlier this week.
The changes are the result of Hydro's annual rate adjustment, which happens each year on July 1, and is independent of the Muskrat Falls project.
Gas and diesel
The prices of gas and diesel are increasing Saturday — gas by 3.26 cents per litre and diesel by just under four cents — as a result of the looming federal carbon tax.
Federal clean fuel regulations are also kicking in at the same time, but it's unknown how much that will impact customers, Finance Minister Siobhan Coady said Wednesday.
They're both federal government programs. The goal is to reduce carbon emissions to net zero.
Home heating fuel
More than 40,000 homeowners in Newfoundland and Labrador use oil for home heating.
The cost is expected to rise by 17 cents per litre Saturday, adding further strain to a heat source that has spiked in price over the last couple of years. That includes stove oil used in parts of Labrador.
The province's Public Utilities Board, which regulates the cost of fuels, said its weekly published fuel price updates for all heating fuels are without taxation and HST is applied at the point of sale. The federal fuel charge is being treated the same — charged at the time and point of sale.
Just over a week ago, before the federally imposed carbon tax was set to be introduced, the province repealed its own legislation so it would no longer collect a provincial carbon tax as of July 1.
The provincial government has been vocal in its disapproval of the federal government's approach.
