Alberta carbon-tax rebates to at least offset fuel-price increases for most people

Rebates included as part of Alberta's new carbon-tax policy should make most people in the provincebetter off financially, according to the chairof the panel that came up with the plan.

"That was a necessary condition for acting on this," said Andrew Leach, who headedup Alberta's Climate Change Advisory Panel, whichcreated the document upon which the province's new climate-change strategy is based.

The Alberta government estimates the phased-incarbon tax will amount to roughly $470 in increased heating, electricity and transportation costs for an average household in 2018, assuming that household consumes the same amount of fossil fuels as it did in 2015.

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Butthepanel's recommendationsalso include a "consumer rebate which would be sufficient to offset the impact of carbon pricing on most households in the bottom 60 per centof income in Alberta, and would make most low-incomeAlbertansmuch better off."

Those are just the recommendations, not yet the official policy.

But Environment Minister Shannon Phillips said Monday that "at least two-thirds of households will see their increased costs rebated."

She declined to get into more precise numbers as to how big those rebates would be or how they might scalebased on income, sayingfurther details will be released in the "coming days and weeks" and a specific financial plan for the rebateswill be included as part of the province's 2016-17 budget.

The 'lion's share' to fare better

Leach said it was"crucial" to thepanel's overall recommendations that the carbontax be distributed in such a way as to not overly burden"lower-income or vulnerable communities."

That doesn't mean every single lower-income person will be better off, he noted, as it will depend on how much they consume in fossil fuels.

"There are going to be some who use significantly more emissions than the average person within those income groups," he said.

"But, in the lion's share, the lower part of the income distribution will be made better off."