FortisBC hikes Revelstoke propane rates 21 per cent

FortisBC is raising the price of propane to $11.088 per gigajoule from $7.878 per GJ starting April 1.

FortisBC is raising the price of propane in Revelstoke starting April 1.

FortisBC is raising the price of propane in Revelstoke starting April 1.

The price of propane is going up in Revelstoke again — the second straight quarterly increase by FortisBC.

Fortis is raising the price of propane to $11.088 per gigajoule from $7.878 per GJ starting April 1. The company says this will mean a $161 increase over a full year based on a consumption of 50 GJ.

It’s the second increase in three months — at the start of the year, the price per gigajoule was raised by about $1.

“Propane prices are influenced by global oil markets,” Fortis said in a news release. “Other factors affecting the market price of propane include weather, supply and demand and economic conditions.”

The increase brings the rate back up to about where it was two years ago, when falling oil prices caused the rate to drop to slightly less than $11 per GJ.

The price of a barrel of oil has been fairly stable over the last three months, though it has dipped by almost $5 this month to just over $48 per barrel. It is still up from a low of about $35 per barrel early last year.

The price of delivery is unchanged.

Rate increases are approved by the BC Utilities Commission.

Revelstoke Times Review