Bowden council approved a pair of five-year contracts on Jan. 13 for the electricity and natural gas used for town-owned buildings and infrastructure.
Bowden council approved a pair of five-year contracts on Jan. 13 for the electricity and natural gas used for town-owned buildings and infrastructure.
The town’s contract for gas with the Alberta Municipal Services Corporation (AMSC), which brokers energy supplies for the town from energy providers, is for a fixed rate over five years and starts Feb. 1.
Under this contract, the AMSC gave the town the chance to monitor hourly provincial gas rates and, when town staff saw a rate they felt was of the best value, that rate was locked in.
Andy Weiss, Bowden’s chief administrative officer, said the rate the town chose for natural gas is $4.09 per gigajoule.
As for electricity, council decided on a "7x24 Block Purchase" contract.
Under this contract, the town purchases a set quantity, or block, of weekly power at a fixed rate of $54.63 per megawatt hour.
If the town needs more power than what’s provided in the block, it will pay for the additional electricity at a variable rate.
But if the town consumes less power than what’s provided in the block, it can sell that power back at the market rate for electricity.
The town currently uses 600 megawatt hours to power its buildings and infrastructure.
Bowden’s previous contracts with the AMSC were variable rate contracts and when they expired on Dec. 31, the town was placed on month-to-month contracts with the variable rate still in place until the new five-year contracts were approved.
TransAlta Energy Marketing Corporation is the town’s electricity and natural gas supplier.
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