We get questions

The Centre for Energy’s portal is loaded with factual and statistical information about Canada’s energy system. But we still get questions, like this one.

Q:  What is the average cost of electricity in Canada?

A:  Average Canadian electricity prices are very difficult to estimate, primarily because various methods of generation (coal-fired thermal, gas-fired thermal, wind, hydro, nuclear, etc.) are used in differing proportions across the country and the price for each of these generation types varies with type and over time (peaking hours versus low demand).

Having said that, HydroQuébec tracks the electricity cost for 11 major Canadian cities and the average of those cities is 10.44 cents per kilowatt hour. These prices are for electricity costs only, and don’t include transmission costs, distribution costs or any surcharges or taxes.

City	ȼ/kWh
Vancouver, BC	6.98
Edmonton, AB	13.45
Regina, SK	10.91
Winnipeg, MB	6.44
Toronto, ON	11.17
Ottawa, ON	10.61
Montréal, QC	6.81
Moncton, NB	11.51
Charlottetown, PE	14.81
Halifax, NS	11.75
St. John’s, NL	10.43
Average	10.44

 
It is interesting to note that the three least-expensive cities, Vancouver, Winnipeg and Montreal, are all from provinces which generate more than 90 per cent of their electricity from hydropower.

Got a question?
Send it to infoservices@centreforenergy.com – we’ll answer it and might even publish it on Flow.