Understand Your Rates
We know customers continue to be concerned about electricity rates, which is why our priority is to provide safe, reliable, cost-conscious services while meeting our commitment to a net-zero electricity system.
See below for answers to some common questions about electricity rates.
Why do rates change annually?
Rates are adjusted annually to reflect changes in the cost to deliver electricity to customers. The rate change is required to recover the cost to provide that service, as well as that of Newfoundland Power.
Which rates changed and by how much?
Rates for our Island Interconnected, L’Anse au Loup and Isolated Rural customer rates are changing, effective August 1, 2024.
Residential
• Island Interconnected Customers – 6.8% average increase
• Island Diesel Customers – 6.4% average increase
• Labrador Diesel Customers – 3.6% average increase, adjusted for Northern Strategic Plan
• L’Anse au Loup Customers – 4.5% average increase, adjusted for Northern Strategic Plan
• There is no change in electricity rates for Labrador Interconnected system customers.
Commercial (General Service)
• Increasing from 7.0% to 8.3% depending on rate class and usage
How were the new rates determined?
Changes to Hydro’s customer rates follow Hydro’s Rules and Regulations, Policies for Automatic Rate Changes. Rate changes must be approved by the Board of Commissioners of Public Utilities. When Newfoundland Power changes its electricity rates, Hydro is required to automatically adjust rates for many of its customer classes. This means either matching our rates to those of Newfoundland Power customers or adjusting rates by the comparable average rate change.
An increase to the wholesale rate we charge to Newfoundland Power was approved effective August 1. This resulted in a 2.3% increase to the average customer bill charged by Newfoundland Power. This amount reflects the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador’s rate mitigation plan which limits rate increases attributable to Hydro’s costs to 2.25% for residential customers on the Island Interconnected System each year up to and including 2030.
Newfoundland Power also required an additional 4.7% average customer bill increase, reflecting its Rate Stabilization Clause and Municipal Tax Adjustments. The average rate increase varies by customer class.
How to read your Hydro Bill
View the sample residential bill below for an explanation of each section of your bill. For detailed billing and account information, sign into myNLhydro, visit nlhydro.com, or contact us at customerservices@nlh.nl.ca or 1-888-737-1296.
How to save money on your bill
Visit the takeCHARGE website for information on how to be more energy efficient and save money on your electricity bill each month.
Why are customers paying more, when Hydro reported a profit this year?
Electricity rates are established to recover the cost of providing electrical service to customers. Following the announcement of the Province’s Rate Mitigation Plan in May 2024, Hydro will be using funds from across all our areas of business (such as energy marketing, Lower Churchill Project, oil and gas, etc.) to reduce the costs for our customers.
What is rate mitigation?
The Muskrat Falls Plant and Labrador Transmission Assets were commissioned in November 2021 and the Labrador Island Link was commissioned in April 2023. Rate Mitigation is designed to allow Hydro to recover a small portion of the costs related to the Project assets from customers while providing certainty for customers, and preventing rates from doubling. The portion customers pay in 2024 will be less than 10% of Hydro’s annual cost of Muskrat Falls.
What does rate mitigation mean for customers?
All island interconnected customers will receive the rate mitigation benefit. For most residential customers, this means Hydro’s annual rate increase is now limited to 2.25% up to and including 2030. Without rate mitigation, rates would have almost doubled.
Example: If your equal payment plan is $300 a month, you’ll pay almost $7 more after July 1, 2024 towards recovering costs related to the Muskrat Falls project. Without action from the Provincial Government and Hydro, this would have been an extra $200 a month. Over the course of the year, this is approximately $2,300 less than had the rate not been mitigated.
The remainder of the August 1, 2024 increase (4.7%) reflects Newfoundland Powers’ Rate Stabilization Clause and Municipal Tax Adjustments.
Who pays for the rest of the Muskrat Falls cost?
The exact sources and amounts of funding may vary each year, but essentially the difference will be funded by Hydro. Since Commissioning of the Project assets, Hydro has been responsible for paying the cost of these Lower Churchill Project assets—approximately $740 million each year.
What were the rate adjustments from past years?
2024 – increase of 7.0%
2023 – increase of 6.9%
2022 – decrease of 0.3%
2021 – increase of 2.5%
2020 – no change (due to pandemic, one-time bill credit applied on customers’ bills)
2019 – increase of 7.6% (includes rate change resulting from most recent General Rate Application)
2018 – increase of 4.2%
2017 – increase of 8.1%
2016 – decrease of 9.5%
2015 – decrease of 9.7%
2014 – increase of 4.0%
2013 – decrease of 8.0%