So for a home that burns 10 gigajoules per month—typical use in Alberta—that would lead to an average $40 reduction on utility bills, said University of Calgary economist Blake Shaffer.
“That will be heavily skewed to winter and barely noticeable in the summer,” he said.
Enmax, the City of Calgary’s utility provider, says on its website that the charge will not apply to natural gas starting on April 1, but it will appear on upcoming bills until charges for gas used through March 31 are paid. Enbridge Gas, which distributes the fuel in Ontario and Quebec, had a similar online notice.
What to expect for food costs
It will likely take longer for any cost savings to filter through to consumers in the grocery aisle, and it’s unclear the degree to which they’d be reflected.
“There’s nothing immediate that’s going to take place on the shelves because those products are already purchased. Those products are already contracted. The cost of those are already absorbed on the shelf,” said Kevin Grier, a livestock, meat and grocery market analyst based in Guelph, Ont.
He expects that when grocery chains sit down to negotiate with their suppliers, the absence of the carbon price will play a role.
“I know darn well that if I was Sobeys or Metro or Loblaws, I would be saying, ‘Hey, you know what? You don’t have this carbon tax that you were complaining about last time. So let’s let’s see what let’s see what you can do for me.’”
How much of that consumers see and how soon is unclear, but Grier said, but “eventually in a competitive market, everything does get passed along.”