WINNIPEG — The board chairman at Manitoba Hydro says some of the province's proposed carbon tax revenue should be used to offset rising electricity rates.
In a speech Friday to the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce, Sanford Riley said the money could be targeted to help low-income earners and people in remote areas deal with the rising cost of heat and power.
Hydro is seeking rate increases of eight per cent a year for the next few years, as it deals with spiralling costs of a new generating station and transmission line.
The Public Utilities Board starts hearings next week on the proposed rate hikes, which Riley says are necessary to avoid serious financial trouble for both Crown-owned Hydro and the provincial government.
The province is planning to bring in a carbon tax of $25 per tonne next year that would not apply to clean energy, such as hydroelectricity, and would raise about $260 million a year.
The government has said there could be a variety of uses for the money — everything from reduced electricity rates to green technology development to new flood-fighting infrastructure.
The Canadian Press
