A tax increase and a continued slump in the price of natural gas means B.C. customers are paying more for carbon tax than they are for the gas they use.
B.C.B次元官网网址檚 carbon tax on fossil fuels went up April 1 for the first time since 2013, increasing the charge for natural gas as well as gasoline, diesel, coal and other carbon-based fuels. That coincides with the lowest price of natural gas in more than a decade.
B次元官网网址淣atural gas is extremely affordable right now, which is why weB次元官网网址檙e seeing the carbon tax outpace the cost of gas,B次元官网网址� said Sean Beardow, manager of corporate communications for B.C. gas utility FortisBC.
The carbon tax increase doesnB次元官网网址檛 sit well with Chilliwack resident Wayne Dance, who keeps a close watch on his energy use and sees no viable alternative for natural gas heating.
B次元官网网址淲e try to do the right thing and two years ago spent more than $5,000 on a new high-efficiency furnace and water heater, which saves a little on our gas bill but not anywhere near enough to recover our costs,B次元官网网址� Dance said.
B.C.B次元官网网址檚 carbon tax is charged on the amount of emission, whatever the price of fuels. This yearB次元官网网址檚 increase, imposed a year earlier than the NDP proposed as a condition of the B.C. Green Party supporting their minority government, brings the carbon tax to $35 a tonne of carbon dioxide or equivalent emissions.
Graph from shows BC natural gas price slide, as hopes rise again for development of export terminal at Kitimat. US, our only export customer, is already shipping to Asia
B次元官网网址� Tom Fletcher (@tomfletcherbc)
The price of B.C. natural gas has fallen in recent years, as supplies have surged from shale gas development in northeast B.C. As the U.S., Australia and other producers have developed shale deposits and begun exporting liquefied natural gas to Asia, B.C. has seen demand decline for its only export market, the U.S., as pipeline development to the coast has stalled.
Premier John Horgan said this week he is hopeful that a long-sought LNG terminal investment will be made. LNG Canada, an international consortium including Shell and including Malaysian giant Petronas and other Asian investors, is close to a final investment decision on a terminal at Kitimat.
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The NDP government surprised many of its supporters and critics in March, announcing it was doing away with the B.C. Liberal governmentB次元官网网址檚 LNG income tax on producers and offering a break on provincial sales tax for construction.
B次元官网网址淲e were approached by the LNG sector, not just LNG Canada, with a series of challenges they had with respect to their competitiveness, based on the program that the Liberals put in place when they started talking about LNG back in 2011,B次元官网网址� Horgan said Tuesday.
B次元官网网址淎nd we have dismantled that package and put forward a new package thatB次元官网网址檚 hopefully going to meet the competitive needs and treating LNG like any other investor. Whether youB次元官网网址檙e coming to invest in the forest industry, in the mining industry, we want to treat everybody exactly the same.B次元官网网址�
Horgan noted gas royalty revenues to the province would increase after a decline in sales and price, helping with health care, education and other rising costs faced by the B.C. government.
tfletcher@blackpress.ca
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