PEI·NewMaritime Electric customers on Prince Edward Island won’t have to worry about a rate hike in 2026 — at least not for now.P.E.I. power utility hasn’t applied for a general rate hike this yearThinh Nguyen · CBC News · Posted: Nov 13, 2025 3:00 PM EST | Last Updated: 30 minutes agoListen to this articleEstimated 3 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.Maritime Electric president and CEO Jason Roberts said the company is trying to keep its expenses low, but it’s facing several cost pressures, including those related to post-tropical storm Fiona restoration and unrecovered energy supply costs. (Kirk Pennell/CBC)Maritime Electric customers on Prince Edward Island won’t have to worry about a rate hike in 2026 — at least not for now.The utility has not submitted an application to the Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission for a general rate increase in 2026, the regulator confirmed.In an email to CBC News, IRAC said Maritime Electric’s rate applications have generally followed a “fairly regular pattern” in recent years, with filings often submitted in the summer months and new rates — when approved — typically taking effect by March of the following year.Robert Mitchell, leader of the P.E.I. Liberal Party, said keeping rates steady is good news for Islanders, especially as more people are using electricity to power heat pumps and electric vehicles.“The longer that’s delayed, the better it is for households in Prince Edward Island that use electricity in many different and new ways over the last five years,” Mitchell told CBC News.Maritime Electric’s rate applications typically follow a pattern where filings are submitted in the summer months and new rates, if approved, take effect by March of the following year, but this year, IRAC says, no general rate application has been submitted. (Kirk Pennell/CBC)Electricity rates already rose by 2.7 per cent this year as part of a multi-year rate plan Maritime Electric submitted to IRAC three years ago and had approved. That plan included annual rate increases and set electricity rates from May 1, 2023, to Feb. 28, 2026.Rate hikes remain possibleMaritime Electric president and CEO Jason Roberts said that with rates holding steady, the company is keeping a close eye on its expenses.“In today’s world, everybody’s, you know, striving to stretch a dollar as far as we can. And we’re doing the same thing,” Roberts said.Still, future increases may be on the horizon.Roberts said the company is still dealing with several major cost pressures, including expenses related to post-tropical storm Fiona in 2022. Maritime Electric currently has an application before IRAC to recover about $37 million in Fiona restoration costs through a customer rate increase.That application was submitted two years ago, and the company is waiting for a decision from IRAC.Maritime Electric crews work to repair power lines damaged by post-tropical storm Fiona in this file photo. (Alexandre Silberman/CBC)Roberts added that there are also unrecovered energy supply costs from the past couple of years.Energy supply costs, he said, are passed directly to customers, with Maritime Electric making no profit.“We buy a dollar of energy and we sell the dollar of energy to you.”But several factors in recent years — including delays in bringing new wind farms online in eastern P.E.I., performance issues at existing wind farms and the shutdown at New Brunswick’s Point Lepreau nuclear generating station — have affected energy supply and driven up costs.“When those happen, we have to go and buy the energy from different sources and different resources at different prices, and sometimes it’s more expensive,” Roberts said.“We don’t have the option to not supply customers. That’s our obligation, and we want to fulfill that. So we proactively go and buy the energy as cheap as we can from what’s available. And if there’s any extra cost, then we look to recover those costs later.”Roberts said Maritime Electric has not yet filed an application with IRAC to recover those energy supply costs.The company also has another application currently before IRAC involving a $427-million proposal to build fossil fuel-powered generators. Maritime Electric is waiting for a decision on that project, and no timeline has been set.With files from Jackie Sharkey
No general rate increase next year for Maritime Electric customers, but future hikes on horizon
