What will my hydro bill be, and why is it high?
Heat pump running cost vs gas or baseboards in Victoria
Compares what a heat pump would cost to run for a year against your current gas furnace or electric resistance heat, using today's BC Hydro tiered or flat rate (with the Time-of-Day option) and FortisBC's Vancouver Island gas rate. Both sides are ranges: the heat pump side spans a seasonal efficiency band, and the heat your house needs comes from your bills when you have them or from an illustrative band for your home size when you do not.
What you enter
- What heats your home today
- How much heat the house uses: annual gas GJ or heating kWh from bills (best), heat delivered if you know it, or a size band (illustrative)
- Furnace efficiency for gas homes, your BC Hydro rate, the Time-of-Day option, and your non-heating electricity per month (optional)
How it is calculated
- Heat delivered = gas GJ × furnace efficiency, or electric heating kWh at COP 1.0
- Heat pump electricity = heat GJ × 277.78 kWh/GJ ÷ seasonal COP band for Victoria's marine climate
- Electricity is priced at the margin: heating kWh spread over October to April on top of the household base load, so the tiered step 2 rate applies where a month goes over the threshold
- Gas is priced at the current delivery, storage/transport and commodity rates plus the basic charge; the carbon tax on natural gas is $0 since April 2025
What it is not
- Oil and propane have no verified Greater Victoria price on file, so no current-side figure is shown for them
- The basic electricity charge is left out of both sides (it does not change); the gas basic charge counts only if the gas account closes
- COP and the home-size heat band are assumptions, labelled as such; your own bills are always better
- This is not a bill forecast; rates change with each BC Utilities Commission decision
Local facts this tool reads
Every figure below is quoted from the source shown or is our labelled estimate. Verified dates are the day we last checked the source.
- BC Hydro residential tiered rate
- 11.87¢/kWh for the first 675 kWh per month, then 14.08¢/kWh; basic charge 23.44¢/day
- Riders excluded
- BC Hydro · quoted · verified 2026-09-18
- BC Hydro residential flat rate
- 12.70¢/kWh; basic charge 25.00¢/day
- BC Hydro · quoted · verified 2026-09-18
- BC Hydro time-of-day option
- +5¢/kWh 4–9 p.m.; −5¢/kWh 11 p.m.–7 a.m.
- BC Hydro · quoted · verified 2026-09-18
- FortisBC residential natural gas, Vancouver Island
- $12.601/GJ total variable (delivery $8.469 + storage/transport $2.472 + gas $1.66); basic charge $0.4216/day; carbon tax $0
- Taxes excluded · B.C. carbon tax on natural gas eliminated April 1, 2025
- FortisBC · quoted · verified 2026-09-18
Questions this tool answers
- heat pump electricity bill
- does a heat pump increase electric bill
- heat pump cost to run per month
- bc hydro step 2 rate heat pump
- heat pump savings bc
- how much does a heat pump save
- save money heat pump
Your next step
With your operating-cost comparison done, check the installed cost and rebates to see the full picture.
Ducted, ductless or no ducts at all?Related tools: Cost calculator · Rebate estimator
Guides that use this tool
- Heat Pump Rebate Deadlines in BC: Victoria Timeline 2026When do these end and what do I need to do by when?
- Heat Pump vs Gas Furnace in Victoria, BC: Cost and RebatesShould I keep gas or switch?
- Dual-Fuel Heat Pump with a Gas Furnace in Victoria, BCCan I add a heat pump, keep my furnace, and what rebate applies?
- Is a Heat Pump Worth It in Victoria, BC? Payback, HonestlyWill it pay for itself, and when, even if I move in under 5 years?
- Heat Pump vs Baseboard Heaters in Victoria, BCIs a heat pump worth it over my baseboards?
- Do Heat Pumps Work in Victoria BC Winters?Will it keep up in a cold snap?
Last updated 2026-09-18. Estimates are our labelled calculations from published local evidence; official figures are quoted from the sources shown. Programs decide eligibility; installers quote. Methodology · Sources · Report a correction.