As announced by the BC provincial government in February, the revenue-neutral Carbon Tax kicked in on July 1, 2008. The progressive tax has begun at a rate of $10 per tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) emissions released from the burning of each particular fossil fuel.

What does this mean to you as a natural gas consumer? A tax of approximately $0.50 per gigajoule will be added to your bill. This represents an increase in costs of around four per cent based on today’s small commercial rates. The Carbon Tax is set to increase annually until 2012, at which time the tax will be $30 per tonne of CO2. That will translate to an extra $1.50 per gigajoule on your gas bill.

The Carbon Tax on natural gas is the lowest for any hydrocarbon fuel. That’s because gas is the cleanest burning fossil fuel. The chart on the left shows the relative Carbon Tax for other hydrocarbon fuels by energy.