‘Who left the light on in the basement? We’re not made of money!’
How is your Hydro Bill this winter? It feels like a long way off before the summer comes and your bill goes down (hopefully). Managing household finances can stretch any family thin, especially when you put childcare into the list of bills, it all adds up really quick. For those that do notice a steep incline in months costs due to the colder weather, BC Hydro has a few enhanced options.
BC Hydro has a new Winter Payment Plan that grants customer the option to spread payment over a six-month period. This program had a trial run last winter season with more than 4,000 household’s signing up. The Billing cycle for this particular platform runs December 1st –March 31st. While we are rapidly approaching that particular month, a few inquiries as to how it may save you a few bucks couldn’t hurt otherwise a possible plan for the winter of 2018/19.
BC Hydro has increased funding by $2.2 million – for a total of $10 million over the next three years – for conservation programs supporting the more than 300,000 BC Hydro residential customer account holders who qualify for low income support. The additional funding reflects the increase in expected participation, as more customers reach out to BC Hydro for assistance.
These programs include:
- The Energy Conservation Assistance Program in partnership with FortisBC provides free energy assessments and energy-saving products such as energy-efficient LED light bulbs, new ENERGY STAR® refrigerators and insulation upgrades. Over 13,000 customers have participated, including more than 3,600 homes in 90 Indigenous communities.
- Energy savings kits – which include a number of simple, easy-to-install products such as energy-efficient LED light bulbs and weather stripping – have been distributed to more than 100,000 customers since 2008.
- These programs combined have resulted in almost $4 million dollars in annual electricity cost savings to BC Hydro’s low income customers.
- More than 20 per cent of BC Hydro’s residential customers qualify for income qualified conservation assistance.
One popular option is the Equal Payment Plan Program which takes the usage of your last 12 months and divides it equally into monthly payments. If you would like to figure out why you are having such a spike is cost, there is the electricity tracking tool online to figure out which light is being left on in the basement and just how much energy is used to run the washer.
For those really inclined to lower their bill, there is the TeamPower Smart program that focuses on reducing their household’s electricity by 10% over the fiscal year. If you are successful, you will get a reward of $50.00, which could very well be a chunk of a monthly bill.
