What goes up must come down, but when the temperature drops as it did this past week, the worry many have is how much their heating costs will rise because of.
St-Laurent resident Anna Vorias says she decided to do some math to see what she would be paying Hydro-Quebec for heating and electricity this year.
“I did a rough calculation and they’re expecting us to pay about $4,200 per year,” she said, noting her household was billed $816 for the period last December to February, during a much milder winter. “So, it’s a bit of a shocker.”
To save some money, her family has been wearing added socks and slippers to try and keep warm without wasting more costly heat, she added.
“We’re a northern climate and what comes with cold weather is the heating bills,” said Hydro-Quebec spokesperson Lynn St-Laurent. “We do have the lowest rates in North America.”
St-Laurent says consumers can look to save money on their next bill by lowering the temperature of rooms not in regular use, and then dropping it across the house by one degree at night.
Vorias says the utility has offered even more cost-saving advice, but it would in turn cost her even more to implement them.
“They suggested changing the windows, that’s a $20,000 expense there,” she said. “We’re looking into if we can put in solar panels. I feel like we’re a hostage.”
-with files from CTV Montreal