Each year, Hydro is required to file an application with the Newfoundland and Labrador Board of Commissioners of Public Utilities (PUB) related to the Rate Stabilization Plan (RSP). The Application for July 1, 2022 Utility Rate Adjustment provides the projected rate adjustment that will come into effect July 1. There is no expected increase to customer’s electricity rates in July as a result of this application. The 2022 filing also includes a Project Cost Recovery Rider.

Today’s filing includes a request to recover some of the costs incurred to date related to completion of the Muskrat Falls Generating Plant and Labrador Transmission Assets. In its application to the PUB, Hydro has proposed increasing the wholesale rate to Newfoundland Power to recover some Muskrat Falls costs and ensure customer rates remain stable.

Although island customers have received power from Muskrat Falls since November 2021, costs have not been passed along. Since November, the cost of supplying this energy has been accumulating in a deferral account as approved by the PUB. Consistent with its policy that electricity rates be maintained at a manageable level, the Provincial Government requested that Hydro file its Rate Stabilization Plan to keep retail electricity rates as close to current levels as possible for this year’s July 1 adjustment.

Under the normal regulatory process, customers were expected to receive an average decrease of 6.4 per cent in July, primarily as a result of fuel costs being offset by electricity supplied by the Muskrat Falls Project and the subsequent reduced production at the Holyrood Thermal Generating Station.

Hydro’s application is subject to review and approval by the PUB. The final July electricity rate adjustment will be known later in June and communicated broadly to customers at that time.

We know customers continue to be concerned about electricity rates and through these efforts, Hydro and the Provincial Government are working to provide stable rates for the coming year.

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