This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.
The original was posted on /r/edmonton by /u/Anabiotic on 2025-04-26 14:22:15+00:00.
Many people believe their power bill is entirely fixed and everything except for the energy charge is unavoidable, even with reduced usage. This is particularly untrue for power, where the fixed charge is significantly smaller than it is for gas. The distinction is important when making decisions on efficiency upgrades and conservation, such as installing solar, purchasing more efficient lighting, or choosing appliances.
StatsCan published tableswith Alberta power usage averages in 2021, which are a useful benchmark. Individual situations may vary widely but if you are significantly higher than this, there may be opportunities to reduce usage:
- Detached house: 667 kWh/mo
- Row house: 414 kWh/mo
- Duplex: 463 kWh/mo
- Low-rise: 285 kWh/mo
- High-rise: 352 kWh/mo
Usage is typically highest in the winter because of electricity usage from increased lighting load, heating load and furnace blowers. Houses with air conditioning will often see a second usage peak in the summer. Despite these differences, power usage is typically more stable than gas usage over the year because few in Alberta use electric heat or heat pumps, and therefore most power use is for appliances such as fridges, freezers, ovens, washers and dryers, which most people use fairly consistently all year.
Gas usage is more driven by structural/mechanical components of the house (furnace and water heater efficiency, quality of insulation & air sealing, number and placement of windows, house size, heated garage, etc.) whereas power usage is more linked to consumer behaviour (number, type, and efficiency of appliances, number of people in the home, how often people are home, electronic usage, air conditioning usage, unusually high usage for reasons like doing a lot of laundry, bitcoin mining, grow lamps, having multiple freezers/fridges, and so on).
Your power bill is made up of several components.
Components of your power bill:
| Item | What it is | Paid to (if you live in Edmonton) | Cost (as of Apr 2025) | Variable or fixed? | Category |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| | | | | | |
| Transmission | Power is sent from the power plant through high-voltage lines over long distances | EPCOR | $0.03825/kWh | Variable | Regulated |
| Distribution | The local series of wires that step down the voltage and send it to your residence. | EPCOR | $0.69953/day (fixed) $0.01712/kWh (variable) | Variable and fixed | Regulated |
| Local access fee | Municipal tax | City of Edmonton | $0.011186/kWh | Variable | Tax |
| Other rate riders (adjustments) | Typically catchups from over/undercharging in previous months; change monthly. Usually very small - can be a charge or a credit. | EPCOR | Rider K - $0.00131/kWh Rider J: 0.00094/kWh | Usually variable | Regul ated |
| Administration fee/membership fee | Billing, customer service, etc. from your retailer | Your retailer (dozens of retailers available) | Varies – depends on retailer. Typically $6-11/month. | Fixed | Deregulated |
| Energy charge | Cost of the power you use | Your retailer (dozens of retailers available) | Depends entirely on your contract/rate - could be $0.06 - $0.12/kWh. | Variable | Deregulated |
| Balancing Pool rate rider (Rider G) | Pays for government agency responsible for some functions post-deregulation. The largest item is paying off a loan that was required after the return of the PPAs in 2015-2016. | Balancing Pool (quasi-government agency) | $0.00135/kWh | Variable | Tax (repayment of government loans) |
| GST | Federal GST | Federal government | 5% of total bill | Variable and fixed | Tax |
How can you control each component of your bill?
- Deregulated variable: Use less power or change retailers
- Deregulated fixed: Change retailers
- Regulated variable: Use less power
- Regulated fixed: Not much you can do.
The actual variable cost of a kWh of power is not just the energy charge. Below I lay it out using an assumed contract price of $0.08/kWh. Your contract may be very different. The current rate of last resort should be the ceiling price, at $0.12/kWh, while newer competitive contracts may be around $0.07/kWh.
Variable components
Cost of 1 kWh:
| Variable charges | Charge | Total | Category |
|
|
|
|
|
| | | | |
| Energy | $0.08/kWh | $0.08 | Deregulated |
| Total deregulated variable | | $0.08 | |
| Transmission | $0.03825/kWh | $0.038 | Regulated |
| Distribution | $0.01712/kWh | $0.017 | Regulated |
| Rate riders (adjustments) | $0.0025/kWh | $0.002 | Regulated |
| Total regulated variable | | $0.058 | |
| Rate rider - Balancing Pool | $0.00135/kWh | $0.001 | Tax |
| Local access fee | $0.011186/kWh | $0.011 | Tax |
| Total variable taxes | | $0.013 | |
| Subtotal variable | | $0.15 | |
| GST | 5% x $0.147 | $0.008 | Tax |
| Total variable cost per kWh | | $0.158 | |
Total variable cost of a kWh that is:
| Regulated | Deregulated | Tax |
|
|
|
|
| 0.058 (36%) | 0.08 (51%) | 0.020 (13%) |
Fixed components
Fixed costs typically vary only by the number of days in the billing period. Below I show a typical 31-day billing period with a retailer who charges $8/month as an admin fee. Retailers’ admin fees may vary from $6-$11/month.
There are only two fixed costs on your bill. Retailers may have more than one admin fee, typically called something like "access fee" or "membership fee" but these are just admin fees by another name.
| Fixed costs | Charge | Total | Category |
|
|
|
|
|
| | | | |
| Admin fee | $8.00/month | $8.00 | Deregulated |
| Fixed distribution | $0.69953/dayx31 days | $21.69 | Regulated |
| Subtotal fixed | | $29.44 | |
| GST | 5%x$27.43 | $1.48 | Tax |
| Total fixed | | $31.17 | |
So maintaining service will cost $31.17 even in the absence of power use.
Total fixed cost that is:
| Regulated | Deregulated | Tax |
|
|
|
|
| $21.69 (70%) | $8.00 (26%) | $1.48 (5%) |
Low bill example
If you have a smaller house/apartment with fewer people in it, are home less often, have fewer appliances, etc., then you might use around 300 kWh a month.
Your total bill would be something like $31.17 + $0.158 x 300 kWh = $78.47
| | Variable | Fixed | Total |
|
|
|
|
|
| Regulated | $17.29 (22%) | $21.69 (28%) | $38.97 (50%) |
| Deregulated | $24.00 (31%) | $8.00 (10%) | $32.00 (41%) |
| Tax | $6.01 (8%) | $1.48 (2%) | $7.50 (9%) |
| Total | $47.30 (60%) | $31.17 (40%) | $78.47 (100%) |
High bill example
A larger house with more people, lots of appliance use (lots of laundry, bitcoin mining, lots of lighting/computer use, air conditioning, people working from home, cold winter with the furnace on, etc.), might use 800 kWh/month, with a total bill of $31.17 + $0.158 x 800 kWh = $78.47 = $157.30.
| | Variable | Fixed | Total |
|
|
|
|
|
| Regulated | $46.10 (29%) | $21.69 (14%) | $67.78 (43%) |
| Deregulated | $64.00 (41%) | $8.00 (5%) | $72.00 (46%) |
| Tax | $16.04 (10%) | $1.48 (1%) | $17.52 (11%) |
| Total | $126.13 (80%) | $31.17 (20%) | $157.30 (100%) |
Choosing a retailer
Same as gas, there are three types of power rates.
- Fixed rate – You sign up for a term (usually 1-5 years) and are guaranteed a stable rate through the contract term. Most companies allow you to exit at any time without penalty. (You should always verify this by reading the T&Cs, just as you would with any contract).
- Variable rate – Typically this is also for a term of 1-5 years, but like a variable-rate mortgage, it just guarantees you the “adder” or margin that the retailer will add on to the market price; the base price will fluctuate. For example, your contract might be the market price + $0.01/kWh, which is the retailer’s margin. You won't know what your bill is until the month is over as it is based on the hourly Alberta pool price over the billing period (adjusted for your customer type's load profile).
- Rate of last resort (RRO) – This is the default rate if you haven’t signed a contract or your old one expired. The government made a wholesale change to this rate calculation last year and renamed it. The rate is now locked at $0.12/kWh until Jan 2027. As this is worse than any fixed rate options, it is not recommended for an...
Content cut off. Read original on https://old.reddit.com/r/Edmonton/comments/1k8e37q/psa_this_is_how_your_power_bill_works_updated_for/
