The NWT’s utilities regulator has published the first wave of correspondence regarding a hike in natural gas prices in the town of Inuvik.
Town officials called on residents to file complaints earlier this month after Atco subsidiary Inuvik Gas said rates would go up by 28 percent for residents and 44 percent for the municipality.
The way Inuvik Gas is regulated means the Public Utilities Board has to receive a written complaint before it can begin investigating.
This week, the PUB updated its online records to show about half a dozen complaints received to date, including a submission from rental giant Northview.
On top of that, the town’s formal complaint is also documented, as is the Inuvik Gas rationale for the price hike.
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Reiterating that this is the first rate increase since 2012, Inuvik Gas says the 2012 rates were “no longer sustainable given the increased cost of providing safe and reliable energy service.”
The company adds that newly expanded propane storage, which it characterizes as a necessity given recent disruptions in supply, will cost almost $2 million a year to maintain.
In its submission, the town points to past PUB decisions on “rate shocks” – in which the regulator found year-on-year 10-percent increases in power rates were unacceptable – as evidence that these increases should be blocked.
The town also alleges there is not enough transparency about the various gas sources the company uses, the cost of acquiring that gas and why rates must now go up.
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Regarding the new propane storage, the town writes: “There has been no review or transparency with respect to the amount or prudency of these capital expenditures and their potential impact on rates, either now or in the future.”
The town urges the board to launch an “in-depth review.”
In a July 23 letter, the PUB asks Inuvik Gas to provide a “detailed response to each of the issues raised by the town” before the end of August 7.
The PUB also requests a “detailed description of the scope, purpose and cost of the major gas storage facilities and related capital additions.”
After that, the PUB says, it will determine how the process will unfold.
Inuvik Gas is also ordered to respond to issues raised by customers in their written complaints.
In one letter, resident Mike Harlow described as “immoral” what he characterized as an “attempt to recoup Inuvik Gas losses off the backs of already cash-strapped home and business owners.” He noted that parent company Atco posted full-year 2025 adjusted earnings of $518 million.
Naokah Roth, another customer, asked why an incremental plan had not been developed instead of a sudden increase.
Jodie Maring said she was “deeply concerned” about the impact on Elders with fixed incomes, single parents, renters, young families and residents of older homes with more heating demand.
“The price keeps rising to no end,” Norman Snowshoe wrote to the PUB. “I don’t know what your board can do, but do something.”
