WINNIPEG -- Natural gas rates are set to increase in Manitoba beginning on Sunday, Nov. 1.

The Public Utilities Board (PUB) announced on Wednesday, Oct. 28, that it approved Centra Gas Manitoba Inc.’s application to increase the primary gas rate from $0.0932/m3 to $0.1081/m3.

The PUB said this new rate will increase the typical residential customer’s bills by 5.6 per cent or $31 year.

The board noted that at the 2019/20 general rate application, it approved temporary rate riders to refund the balances in gas cost deferral to customers.

The small general service class, which includes residential customers, also received a refund from the surplus of the Furnace Replacement Program Fund. These temporary refund riders will be in place until Oct. 31, 2020.

The PUB said the new rate and the removal of the rate riders will increase typical residential customer’s bills by about 22 per cent or $122 a year. It noted that other customer classes will also see bill increases from the primary gas rate increase and the removal of rate riders.

Customers with fixed-term fixed-price contracts, with either Centra or a private broker, will not be affected.

The PUB will review primary gas rates again on Feb. 1, 2021.