"voted in the by-election. dation on the Kitimat-Stikine Natural gas to soar 22 per cent Average home will pay $240 more in a year By SARAH GLEN PACIFIC NORTHERN GAS (PNG) is sending the price for na- lural gas skyrocketing after the B.C: Utilities Commission ap- proved massive price increases. . The regulator pave PNG the green light to jack residential ‘rates 22 per cent and business tales 27-per cent, effective July 1, ‘> The price hike means local re- ‘sidents will pay $240 more each year. A higher demand for a dwind- ‘ling supply of gas and an increase -in- market prices are driving the ‘natural gas prices up, said Craig ‘Donahue, director of regulatory affairs and pas supply at PNG. deadline 4 MIGHTY MOE is hoping , he’ll be able to appeal a police crackdown aimed at taking away his licence, -He was up against a deadline of today to ap- peal the six-month suspen- sion of his licence for what authorities described as his erratic driving. Mce said he heped to file an extension by today, with assistance from Prince Rupert-based legal aid lawyers. “T don’t know what I'd do if I didn’t have my licence,” he said. He had received a June 7 letter from the motor ve- hicles branch saying it was taking. action to suspend ‘his licence for six months “in the public interest.” _ RCMP asked for the suspension after officers concluded his driving ha- bits are getting bad. _ The highways. ministry. .. has; also , barricaded matt si, Moe’s favourite highway pullout west of town, where he often camped. _ Meanwhile the Kitimat- - Stikine Regiona! District ‘ poard decided not to write a letter in support of Moe’s bid to get his licence back. ‘Directors sat in stony silence as the Regional District of Kitimat Stikine board considered Moe’s handwritten plea Friday night. -Kitimat director Jim Thom’ moved to receive the letter for information. Terrace director Rich Mc- Daniel seconded the mo- tion, which passed un- animously by a show of hands. Weeber on school board NEW HAZELTON mayor Pete Weeber has been elected to School District 82’s board of trustees. Weeber won a June 10 by-election and will re- place Charlie Willson on the board as trustee for electoral ‘area 5, which in- cludes the Hazeltons and ‘rural areas. _ , Starting July 1, Weeber will serve the remainder of a three-year-term as school trustee ending in Decem- ber 2002. - The official tally wasn’t available by presstime, but according to the prelimi- nary results, Weeber led the six-way race with a total of 125 votes, just ahead of Gilbert Wilson of Hazelton, who received 103, : Another Hazelton can- didate, Jessica Mikolayc- zyk followed closely with 101 votes. The remaining candidates were Arthur Wilson of. Kispiox, Larry Moore of Kitwanga and Alice Jeffrey of Hazelton. Preliminary results also ‘show that 442 people Weeber also represents the Municipalily of Hazel- Regional District board. broathe, Mae votae matters’ | HE MPEP eae Lanett ASSO TATION AULCUM Fr ar Denfty 468 DUH “We're seeing a situation where the demand for our product increased by 50 per cent last year,” said Donahue. PNG makes the majority of ils Money in the transportation of the gas through its pipelines - not in the gas itself. Residents aren't the only ones worried about the price hike. The troubled Methanex plant in Kitimat, which shut down opera- tions earlier this spring fuels close to 60 per cent of its operations with natural gas. “The real impact for us comes from the price of natural gas not the transportation costs,” said Jeff Tyson, manager of gas supply and regulatory affairs at Methanex. PNG only transports natural gas to Methanex, it doesn’t supply the company with the fuel. . Still, Methanex is expected to pay about 5 per cent more in transportation costs this coming up year, said Tyson. This, combined with the 50 to almost 80 per cent increase in gas prices themselves are sinking the plant in Kitimat, said Tyson. “We lost a lot of money in Ki- timat last year and we’re not pre- pared to do that again.” About 20 Terrace residents work at the Methanex plant in Ki- timat, Methanex, the provincial gov- ernment and PNG are currently negotiating an agreement to share costs to help avert the closure of the Kitimat plant. “Nothing is finalized yet, but at the end of the day we need to find an arrangement where every- one will be better off,” said Tyson. The price hikes are meeting fierce opposition from consumer and labour advocates. Jim Sinclair, president of the B.C. 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