Gas prices tumble across B.C. after carbon tax lifted in late-night legislative session

Gas prices across B.C. have seen a sharp decline after the consumer carbon tax was lifted in the early hours of April 1.

B.C. was the first jurisdiction in North America to introduce widespread carbon pricing through a consumer tax in 2008. The policy was popular for years, surviving left- and right-leaning governments.

But Premier David Eby says it became "toxic," following years of "axe the tax" campaigning from both federal and provincial Conservatives, and he vowed to do away with it once the federal government introduced the means to do so.  (Notably, the first party to use the "axe the tax" campaign was the B.C. NDP, after the carbon tax was introduced by the governing B.C. Liberals in 2008). 

It all came to a head in a late-night legislative session that started Monday and stretched into Tuesday morning as third and final reading of the bill was passed.

Eby said he expected gas prices to fall by about 17 cents a litre Tuesday, and though it took some time, by mid-morning it had happened, according to online gas pricing aggregates like Gas Buddy and Gas Wizard.

Prices shown on the sites as of 11 a.m. PT range from as low as $1.32 at a station in Penticton to $1.77 in North Vancouver.

Meanwhile, FortisB.C., which provides home heating through natural gas, said they expect a price drop of 23 per cent, or just under $30 a month for the average home bill.

Some consumers had noted a spike in prices in the days leading up to the repeal of the carbon tax, and Eby says the province's utilities commission has the authority to uncover price gouging.

In an interview with CBC's The Early Edition, B.C. Utilities Commission chair and CEO Mark Jaccard noted that prices for gas fluctuate seasonally due to changes in refinery production.

"[Prices] go up as we head toward the summer as refineries switch from making less heating oil and more gasoline ... so those kind of prices fluctuate over the year," he said, adding the commission will monitor the market to determine whether gas companies are passing on savings from the removal of the tax to costumers. 

In an interview with the Canadian Press, GasBuddy's Patrick De Haan noted that a refinery fire in northern California had pinched the market all along the west coasts of Canada and the United States.

"Unfortunately, there are some abnormal circumstances happening there," he said. 

Some analysts were critical of the decision to remove the tax: Ross Hickey, a UBC Okanagan economist, called the decision "foolish," saying putting a price on carbon made sense for people's wallets and for the environment.

"I was hoping it would be an April Fool's joke," he told BC Today host Michelle Eliot.