Edmonton raises electricity franchise fee to 19.4%

Edmonton city council voted 8-5 on Tuesday, Oct. 6, to raise the electricity franchise fee to 19.4 per cent of distribution charges from 17.65 per cent, with the higher rate taking effect Jan. 1, 2027.

The fee is charged to the city’s electric utility, EPCOR, and shows up on residents’ power bills. The increase is small but will be passed on to customers, CTV News reported.

Councillors Erin Rutherford, Karen Principe, Thu Parmar, Mike Elliott and Reed Clarke voted against the increase, according to CBC News and Taproot Edmonton.

Coun. Keren Tang put forward the motion for 19.4 per cent. A rate of 20 per cent, the maximum allowed under Alberta Utilities Commission rules, had also been proposed, CBC reported.

Tang said the fee is one of the city’s “limited ways” to raise revenue, and that a 19.4 per cent rate would bring Edmonton in line with Calgary, CBC reported. She said it was more defensible to be “more in line with some of the other cities.”

Rutherford said she was concerned the change adds to affordability pressures and asked about “unintended consequences,” CBC reported. Elliott said the increase may look small, comparable to “the price of a cup of coffee,” but that “a cup of coffee adds up over time.”

The city has not published a dollar figure for the typical household at 19.4 per cent in the reports reviewed by Canada News Media. At the 20 per cent rate, the typical residential monthly fee would have risen to $10.27 from $9.06, and the city estimated about $14.8 million in additional revenue in 2027, bringing total franchise fee revenue to $125.6 million. Those figures describe the rejected 20 per cent option, so the actual impact will be somewhat lower.

The decision is one of several taken at the council meeting that week, and it comes as the city heads into four-year budget deliberations. Council also voted 6-5 to have administration bring forward an unfunded capital profile for the bike plan, Taproot Edmonton reported.

Sources: CBC News; CTV News Edmonton; Taproot Edmonton.

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