Scrapped carbon tax will provide some relief to Manitoba Hydro customers, drivers

One Manitoban has mixed feelings about receiving a break on his Hydro bills next cycle.

Currently, Manitoba Hydro customers who use natural gas pay what's called a "federal carbon charge" on their monthly bills. Earlier this month, Prime Minster Mark Carney signed a directive to remove the consumer carbon tax effective April 1, and the first place Manitobans might notice the change could be their Hydro bills.

Ryan Kochie, a homeowner in the Elmwood area where he lives with his partner and their four children, says the carbon charge was a large portion of his natural gas bill.

"Looking back at February with our $100 bill, [the federal carbon charge] was about $40 on that bill."

Removing the monthly carbon charge will help with the cost of living, Kochie says, while adding he's going to miss the carbon tax rebate he used to get every three months.

"It was definitely a nice bonus to help with unexpected bills and stuff," Kochie said.

"We're very careful in our budgeting as a family of four, so we're watching everything anyway, but having that bonus just helps that monthly budget out, and helps us put more into savings."

Kochie says he has friends living cheque to cheque who depend on the carbon tax rebate to stay afloat.

Manitoba Hydro's website says the average household used 2,075 cubic metres of natural gas in 2024 at a cost of roughly $316, or just over $26 a month in carbon tax.

Peter Chura, media relations officer for Manitoba Hydro, says the Public Utilities Board had to approve the changes to Hydro bills before they could be reflected on customers' bills.

"The federal carbon charge will not apply to any natural gas used by our customers on or after April 1. It will still apply the gas used before then, so that will still appear on customers' bills in a prorated fashion."

Chura says customers on an equal payment plan will see a slight change in their hydro bills as well. 

He said the federal carbon charge wasn't being paid to Hydro.

"The federal carbon charge was levied by the federal government.  They set the amounts and we would simply collect it on their behalf and then remit that to the federal government."

Prior to the change in carbon tax policy, Chura says, tax was scheduled to rise on April 1. As a result, some customers might find a pamphlet with their bill that refers to the federal carbon charge going up, even though it's going to disappear altogether.

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Manitobans can expect to see savings at the pump, too.

Gas prices will fall almost 18 cents a litre, or about $9 less to fill a 50-litre tank.  Before Carney scrapped the carbon tax, gas prices were slated to rise another three cents.

The Manitoba Eco Network says it's discouraged to see the removal of the consumer carbon tax.

Executive director James Beddome wants to know what policy will be implemented in its place that encourages people to reduce their carbon footprint.

"Can we expect to see the Carney government end all subsidies to the oil-and-gas sector, for instance? Can we expect to see them put major investments into public transportation? Beddome said.

"Can we expect to see them, sort of lay down the line in the regulatory approach … that we're going to go away from fossil fuels, which unfortunately isn't what I've heard in some of the first opening remarks."

Beddome says the carbon tax alone wasn't going to get Canada to meet its climate change goals, but it was better than nothing.

"Certainly we need more than just pricing on greenhouse gas emissions, but it's disappointing that politics has won out over good policy," Beddome said, referring to the divisive nature of the carbon tax.

Kochie also thinks the carbon tax was dividing the country. He said he understands why the Liberals chose to abandon it, but he hopes there's more climate policy in the works.

"I really hope this doesn't mean they're going to abandon climate action overall," Kochie said. "We need to be actively working against [climate change], healing our planet instead of making it worse."

Drivers, Manitoba Hydro customers to feel some relief from scrapped carbon tax

4 days ago

Duration 2:02

Earlier this month, Prime Minster Mark Carney signed a directive to remove the consumer carbon tax effective April 1, and the first place Manitobans will notice the change could be their Hydro bill.