Understanding Your Bill

How to read your bill

Even if you have automatic withdrawals or e-bills, it is always a good idea to check your bill on a regular basis. If you sign a contract with a competitive retailer for electricity and natural gas, you'll receive a single administration fee each month as determined by the contract accepted.

Please click on the image to learn about various line items and charges on your electricity or natural gas utility bills.

Your retailer

Your retailer buys electricity or natural gas on the market and sells to you, the customer. Your retailer also bills you and manages your account.
There are two kinds of retailers. Regulated retailers set their rate using a formula approved by the Alberta Utilities Commission. Competitive retailers set their rate independently. You choose the kind of retailer and which company to buy your energy from.

kWh

Kilowatt hour is the standard measure for electricity use— one kilowatt of electricity in use for one hour. For example, a 100W light bulb uses 1 kWh if it’s on for 10 hours.

GJ

Gigajoule is a standard measure of energy use. An average family uses roughly 120 GJ of energy in natural gas in a year.

Rate

Your rate is how much you pay your retailer per kWh or GJ for electricity or natural gas you use, shown in cents or dollars.

Your bill

Your bill comes from your retailer, but it includes your delivery charges as well. The delivery charges on your bill come from your distributor, not from your retailer.

Who to call with questions

Call your retailer if you have questions about your bill. Call your distributor if you have an outage or emergency. Phone numbers for both companies are on your bill.

Meter readings

Your meter readings are either actual or estimated. An actual meter reading is taken from the meter at your house or site. If distributors don’t get an actual reading, they estimate the reading, based on past use and number of days in the period. For gas, the estimate also considers temperature during the period.

Site ID and meter number

These two numbers identify the meter in your house. Site ID is like the address or location of the meter, and the meter number is on the meter itself.

Multiplier

To convert your meter reading into kWh, multiply the reading by the multiplier. If your multiplier is 1, your reading is already in kWh.

Conversion factor

A gas meter measures volume. The conversion factor converts volume into the units of energy, or GJ, used to calculate your charges.

Charges to buy electricity or gas

These are charges from your retailer for the amount of electricity or natural gas you use. These charges are the rate multiplied by number of kWh or GJ you use.

Charges to buy electricity or gas

These are charges from your retailer for the amount of electricity or natural gas you use. These charges are the rate multiplied by number of kWh or GJ you use.

Administration fee

Your retailer charges this fee to cover billing costs and customer care.

Federal Carbon Tax

The federal government applies a levy to fossil fuels based on how much carbon dioxide they release when burned. The Federal Carbon Tax is the rate multiplied by number of GJ you use. Learn more.

Charges to deliver electricity or gas

These charges are not for the electricity or natural gas itself, but for delivery from the source to your home. They are charges from your distributor and are sometimes separated into transmission and distribution.
Transmission: Transmitting electricity or moving gas over long distances from the source to your local area.
Distribution: Transmitting electricity or moving gas within your area, usually within your city or town.

Charges to deliver electricity or gas

These charges are not for the electricity or natural gas itself, but for delivery from the source to your home. They are charges from your distributor and are sometimes separated into transmission and distribution.
Transmission: Transmitting electricity or moving gas over long distances from the source to your local area.
Distribution: Transmitting electricity or moving gas within your area, usually within your city or town.

Local access fee and Municipal franchise fee

Your distributor pays a fee to the local government to use municipal land for power lines and substations or gas pipelines and infrastructure. The fee also gives your distributor the right to provide electricity or gas to your community and covers municipal taxes on property and land. The fee is shared by all customers in your area. Each local government sets the fee based on provincial law.

Local access fee and Municipal franchise fee

Your distributor pays a fee to the local government to use municipal land for power lines and substations or gas pipelines and infrastructure. The fee also gives your distributor the right to provide electricity or gas to your community and covers municipal taxes on property and land. The fee is shared by all customers in your area. Each local government sets the fee based on provincial law.

Rider

A rider is a charge or a credit that adjusts your distributor charges. Riders exist for various reasons. They cover changes in circumstances since the Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC) last approved your distributor’s charges. They are also AUC- approved. You may have more than one rider on your bill at a time. Learn more.

Balancing Pool rider

The Balancing Pool forecasts whether its assets will have a surplus or shortfall. Alberta’s electricity consumers share this surplus or shortfall as a credit or charge on their bills, usually as a credit.

Distributor

Your distributor delivers electricity or gas to customers, answers emergency calls, and does meter readings.

Charges on your utility bill

Two main charges make up your energy bill:

• The cost of energy consumed, and
• The cost of delivering this energy.

The energy charges are based on how much of the actual commodity you used, whereas the cost of delivering the energy is largely fixed.

Delivery charges cover the cost of installing, operating, and maintaining the infrastructure that's used to transmit energy to your home. For electricity, this infrastructure includes poles, wires and transformers, and for natural gas, infrastructure includes pipes and compressor stations.

Delivery company rates are regulated by the Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC), an independent, quasi-judicial agency associated with Alberta Energy. The AUC holds rate hearings to ensure that you receive safe and reliable services at a reasonable cost.

According to Section 4 of the Natural Gas Billing Regulation and Section 4 of the Billing Regulation (electricity), an electricity or natural gas bill must show all credits or charges as separate line items.

Bill concerns

If you've been billed incorrectly, contact your retailer. Your retailer's contact information can be found on your utility bill, or by calling the UCA at 310-4822.