Red Deer utility users could see a drop in their bills if changes are brought in to tie utilities with consumption.
The city’s Governance and Policy Committee, which consists of all members of council, met on Monday to talk with city administration over how to address utilities.
The committee gives more informal discussions on governing matters.
The utility rates review is looking at water, electricity, solid waste and wastewater. Stormwater was also discussed but currently the City of Red Deer doesn’t charge for it.
The committee directed administration to see if it can come up with draft policies looking at consumption.
“We’re really trying to address how we can set up some policies around rates,” Mayor Morris Flewwelling said on Monday.
The city is trying to relate rates so they encourage conservation.
“Right now, if you were to practically use no water or electricity, it would hardly make any difference to your bill at all,” Flewwelling said.
For instance, people who vacation south of the border for the winter still pay all those charges for administration, the wires and the pipes, he said.
“We’re trying to look at a rational way so if you want to save electricity, your reward would be a lower bill,” Flewwelling said.
Some of the charges are controlled by the City of the Red Deer, some charges are optional.
It’s just a grab bag of charges that affect one’s bill and so consumption almost becomes irrelevant, Flewwelling said.
Someone who would venture off the grid would end up saving money because they don’t have to deal with administrative and other charges, he said.
The utilities are self-supporting and that’s a charge for users.
“There’s an old game in municipal politics that you lower the taxes and raise the utilities — or increase the taxes and lower the utilities,” said Flewwelling. “We’re asking about the balance and what’s fair.”
Some of the charges are placed on the utilities so they can make a profit, which ends up getting dumped onto the tax side.
“Maybe we shouldn’t be doing that,” Flewwelling said.
The drafts will come back to the committee before formally going to city council for consideration.
tester@www.reddeeradvocate.com