New year lights up Edmonton electricity rates

Electricity rates in Edmonton are about to reach their highest level in more than ayear next month.

The averagehomeowner will pay an extra $11 on their January electricity bill; that's on top of a$23 hike in December.

For a typical home, that's a cost of about $90 for the month.

Residential rates for electricity are climbing to 15.1 cents per kilowatt-hour compared to 7.6 cents last January.

The rate hike will affect everyone not locked into a fixed-rate contract about 270,000 Epcor customers.

Alberta deregulated electricity prices in 1996.