A Rosedale man thought he was doing his part to help the environment and fight global warming when he bought a Chevy Bolt.
But his latest BC Hydro bill has Brian Chwiendacz questioning his decision.
Chwiendacz was shocked to see a charge of $287.86 after paying $89.05 and $90.87 on his two previous bills.
B次元官网网址淲e charge the car at home and use our electricity,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淏ut we were never told, B次元官网网址極h thank you for going green, but the government will now make you pay for that.B次元官网网址� How does this make sense?B次元官网网址�
Chwiendacz says he has followed BC HydroB次元官网网址檚 recommendation to charge between 11 p.m. and midnight.
BC Hydro introduced a two-step residential conservation rate in October of 2018, incentivizing customers to turn off lights and take other steps to reduce their power usage.
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In ChwiendaczB次元官网网址檚 case, he was charged $130.03 at the step one rate of $0.0945/kilowatt-hours, and another $130.65 when car charging bumped him up to the step two rate of $0.1417/kilowatt-hours.
B次元官网网址淚 called the BC Hydro number and talked to one of their representatives while I had the BC Hydro web site open on my computer,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淎fter we talked for a bit he told me that he agreed that we should not have to pay the higher rate because of the electric vehicle being charged.B次元官网网址�
BC Hydro spokesperson Mora Scott said ChwiendaczB次元官网网址檚 experience of a dramatic spike is not a common one, but an increase on the electrical bill should be expected when an electrical vehicle is purchased. She said thatB次元官网网址檚 usually more than offset by not needing to fuel up a vehicle.
B次元官网网址淢ost electrical vehicle (EV) drivers make the switch because our electricity is clean and they save a lot in fuel costs,B次元官网网址� she noted. B次元官网网址淐harging at home is about 75 per cent cheaper than gas. For example, a Nissan Leaf can travel 100 kilometres for just $2 in electricity costs B次元官网网址� a tiny fraction of what it would cost to drive an equivalent gas-powered car the same distance.
B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e also looking at future rate options for EV drivers that could include off-peak (overnight) charging. This could be at a lower rate to encourage more British Columbians to make the switch to driving an EV.B次元官网网址�
eric.welsh@theprogress.com
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