BC Hydro\'s default residential rate is the Residential Conservation Rate (RCR), with two tiers. The first 22.1918 kWh per day of consumption is billed at 10.16 ¢/kWh. Everything above the threshold on the same day is billed at 14.08 ¢/kWh. Add a daily basic charge of about $0.2160. Step 2 was held constant on April 1, 2026; the 3.75% net bill increase was recovered through Step 1 and the basic charge.
Daily kWh up to 22.1918. That works out to about 1,350 kWh per two-month billing cycle. A typical apartment or small home stays in Step 1 most months.
Everything above 22.1918 kWh/day. About 39% more per kWh than Step 1. Electric heat in winter is what pushes most homes into Step 2.
The non-obvious thing: the Step 2 price was held constant by a BCUC decision on February 24, 2025. The 3.75% increase that took effect on April 1, 2026 came out of Step 1 and the daily basic charge. That makes the gap between Step 1 and Step 2 slightly smaller this year; the gap is still big enough that the conservation incentive is real.
The belief most BC customers carry
"BC Hydro raises the rate, the bill goes up." That sentence treats the rate like a flat number. It is not, on the default residential rate, a flat number. The bill is the sum of three things : a daily basic charge that everyone pays, kWh below the threshold at Step 1, and kWh above the threshold at Step 2. A household whose habits keep almost all use in Step 1 sees small bill increases when rates change. A household that runs deep into Step 2 every winter sees big ones.
The rate decision is set by the BCUC. What you actually pay is shaped by where the line falls between Step 1 and Step 2 in your usage profile.
What the stepped rate actually does to your bill
| Profile | Daily kWh average | Share in Step 1 | Energy cost per month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small apartment, gas heat | ~13 | 100% | ≈ $40 |
| Midsize home, gas heat + EV | ~25 | 88% | ≈ $80 |
| Electric-heated home, winter | ~45 | 49% | ≈ $164 |
| Large electric-heated home, cold snap | ~70 | 32% | ≈ $270 |
Indicative. Source: BC Hydro Residential Tiered Rate page, effective 2026-04-01. Excludes basic charge and rate rider.
The pattern is consistent. Doubling daily kWh more than doubles the energy charge, because the new kWh all land at Step 2. Halving daily kWh more than halves it, because the saved kWh come from Step 2 first.
Tool: how much would shaving kWh actually save you?
Type your typical winter daily kWh. The widget computes what the energy charge looks like now, and what it would look like if you trimmed N kWh per day. The savings come out of Step 2 first.
Electric heat winter: 30 to 60 typical.
Thermostat 2 °C lower, dryer offload: 5 to 10.
Step 1 + Step 2 only, before basic charge.
The shaved kWh come from Step 2 first.
Per winter month, before tax.
Indicative. Excludes the basic daily charge and rate rider. Step 1 = 10.16 ¢/kWh, Step 2 = 14.08 ¢/kWh, threshold 22.1918 kWh/day.
The non-obvious thing: Step 2 is the only kWh worth optimising
When you cut a kWh, the saved kWh comes from the most expensive tier first. A household at 45 kWh/day that trims to 40 saves five Step 2 kWh, not five Step 1 kWh. That is why behaviour changes (turning down the thermostat overnight, offloading dryer cycles, switching to LED, fixing draft leaks) read on the bill bigger than the kWh count alone suggests.
The other implication: a household already in Step 1 territory has very little to gain from incremental conservation. It is already paying the cheaper rate. The structural play for that household is to keep equipment efficient enough to avoid drifting into Step 2 when life changes (new occupant, EV, renovation).
How to stay in Step 1, in order
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01Find your average daily kWh from MyHydro.
The MyHydro dashboard shows a daily-kWh chart by month. Compare the highest month to 22.1918 kWh/day. That difference is your Step 2 exposure.
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02If you exceed the threshold mainly in winter, address heating.
Baseboards on for long stretches are the single biggest driver. A heat pump replacing baseboards typically cuts daily heating kWh by half or more. Tight envelope (insulation, air sealing) is the other half of the answer.
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03Offload the highest-watt appliances off their default times.
Dryer, oven, EV charger. Moving them to overnight, weekends or off-peak windows under the optional time-of-day rate trims peak draw and total kWh.
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04Use the BC Hydro home energy assessment.
Free for BC Hydro residential customers. The assessment identifies where the kWh actually go in your home and which interventions have the best payback at the Step 2 rate.
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05Consider the optional rates if your routine fits.
Time-of-day pricing rewards households that can move use to overnight. The flat rate suits households that consistently exceed the threshold. Read the BC Hydro rate options page; switching back and forth is a normal account-management action.
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06Re-check after one winter on whatever you changed.
The MyHydro chart will show whether the change pushed you durably below the threshold. If yes, lock it in. If not, the saving is somewhere else in the home, not where you looked first.
Why this matters in 2026 specifically
BC Hydro is in the middle of a multi-year rate-design process at the BCUC. The two-tier residential rate is being reviewed in that process, and proposals on the table include a flatter residential rate to better support electrification (heat pumps, EVs). Whatever 2027 and 2028 look like, the decisions will be public BCUC orders; understanding how the current Step 1 / Step 2 structure works is what lets you read the next decision in real time.
For 2026 itself, the +3.75% net bill increase falling on Step 1 and the basic charge (not Step 2) shifts the maths slightly in favour of households that use a lot. The Step 1 / Step 2 spread is smaller than it was before. The conservation incentive is still there, just a touch weaker.
