FIELD NOTES / THE BILL
What’s behind
the number?
Your bill pays for both electricity and the system that brings it home. A low advertised rate explains only one part of the total. Start with the electricity section of your bill, leaving water, gas, waste collection, previous balances and late-payment charges outside the comparison.
Find the five building blocks.
| Charge | What to look for |
|---|---|
| Energy | Consumption in kWh multiplied by your energy rate. A rate of 12.06¢ means $0.1206 per kWh. |
| Administration | Your retailer’s fee. It may be daily or monthly; use the exact number of billing days. |
| Delivery | Transmission and distribution costs. Your bill can contain both fixed and usage-based charges. |
| Other charges | Local fees and riders. A rider can be a charge or a credit; check each line before combining it. |
| Tax | The tax actually shown on your bill. The lab applies your entered percentage to its modelled subtotal. |
Delivery rates are regulated. Your distributor is determined by your location; changing retailers does not change that distributor. The UCA explains these distinctions and can help with a disputed bill. UCA — Understanding utility bills ↗ and UCA — Alberta utility questions ↗.
Compare supplier costs fairly.
Hold imported electricity and billing days constant, then compare the energy rate and administration fee. Delivery charges, taxes and retailer terms need their own review. Our rate check reports the supplier difference before tax.
Supplier cost = kWh × energy rate in dollars + billing days × daily administration Supplier difference = current supplier cost − comparison supplier cost
The current RoLR reference runs to December 31, 2026. Check the next default-rate period and any offer’s availability before acting. A historical floating-rate average is a record of the past, not a promised future price.
Bring the actual numbers.
- Check that the bill is an actual meter reading rather than an estimate or corrected rebill.
- Copy consumption, period length, energy rate and administration fee into “Use my bill”.
- Replace the illustrative fixed delivery, variable delivery and other-fee assumptions. If a tariff cannot be reduced to these inputs, treat the result as approximate.
- Read the contract’s term, cancellation rules, credit requirements and any incentives separately.
For available Alberta plans, use the UCA — Cost Comparison Tool ↗. For an unexpected charge, your retailer is the first contact. Never post a full bill publicly: it can expose your address, account number and site ID.
Bring my bill into the lab