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.

香蕉视频直播淲e charge the car at home and use our electricity,香蕉视频直播� he said. 香蕉视频直播淏ut we were never told, 香蕉视频直播極h thank you for going green, but the government will now make you pay for that.香蕉视频直播� How does this make sense?香蕉视频直播�

Chwiendacz says he has followed BC Hydro香蕉视频直播檚 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 Chwiendacz香蕉视频直播檚 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.

香蕉视频直播淚 called the BC Hydro number and talked to one of their representatives while I had the BC Hydro web site open on my computer,香蕉视频直播� he said. 香蕉视频直播淎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.香蕉视频直播�

BC Hydro spokesperson Mora Scott said Chwiendacz香蕉视频直播檚 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 that香蕉视频直播檚 usually more than offset by not needing to fuel up a vehicle.

香蕉视频直播淢ost electrical vehicle (EV) drivers make the switch because our electricity is clean and they save a lot in fuel costs,香蕉视频直播� she noted. 香蕉视频直播淐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 香蕉视频直播� a tiny fraction of what it would cost to drive an equivalent gas-powered car the same distance.

香蕉视频直播淲e香蕉视频直播檙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.香蕉视频直播�

eric.welsh@theprogress.com
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