British Columbia's energy minister says the province is setting annual rate increases for electricity for the next two years in response to rising demand for power and economic uncertainty.

Adrian Dix says the government will be submitting a "rate stability direction" to the B.C. Utilities Commission for approval of a BC Hydro rate increase of 3.75 per cent on April 1 and for the same bump next year.

He says power costs in B.C.remain among the lowest in North America and each of the increases comes to about $3.75 per month for the average residential household that current pays about $100.

Dix says BC Hydro needs the increases to help cover costs of the rising demand for electricity and to complete the Site C dam project on the Peace River.

He says the move is also aimed at bolstering the provincial Crown utility during the "unprecedented" threat to the economy posed by the threatened steep tariffs on Canadian goods from U.S. President Donald Trump.

The minister says BC Hydro's cumulative rate increases between 2017-18 and 2026-27 will be 12.4 per cent below cumulative inflation.

Adjusting for inflation, he says B.C. electricity costs the same as it did 40 years ago.