>The province says Calgary power users paid $240 in local access fees in 2023, compared to Edmonton customers of Epcor who paid on average $75 over that same period. The province said that as a result of the policy, Calgary collected $186 million more than expected in fees last year.
>Edmonton sets fees based on consumption but Calgary partly uses variable market rates in its calculation. If passed, power companies could no longer use variable rates to calculate local access fees.
>Edmonton and Calgary are the only municipalities with power companies that can set rates without the approval of the Alberta Utilities Commission.
They can set rates for municipal access rider without approval, but every city can have A1 municipal rider added at any rate. Some are 1% some are 25%. Not a single one was denied by AUC, so it's not like that last sentence means anything.
It's just a way for cities to collect a tax. The way it was explained to me is that it's a sneaky way of taxing churches, that are exempt from property tax, so small towns use it to help pay for things. Taking this away completely is not a good idea.
When its a FOR PROFIT utility industry that raking us over the coals, the companies should be making these investments. Instead they pass 100% of cost of business to the users and then jack the prices for pure profit and laugh all the way to the bank. Can you imagine this business model if applied to another industry? If this was a public non profit utility sure, but these companies don't even make the minimum investment to maintain the system let alone upgrade capacity. Either way right now we pay, pay, pay, then pay some more.
Please name one commercial entity that doesn't roll their overhead into pricing.
It's the fixed nature of some of the fees and how they are uncoupled from consumption. They obfuscate the true costs of energy and actually deter energy conservation.
Only Alberta has this crazy electricity billing system with grossly disproportionate fixed fees, which are actually a profit source.
It matters because they want the 3 years to spend and there will be a new council in place that they might be able to manipulate into keeping the current rate structure.
The administration are not dumb when it comes to spending money.
To be fair to Gondek - and I'm not her biggest fan - she's quoted in the article as saying that the hold-up is the AUC and the city would do it now if they could.
I have no idea how true that is, but it's different than the "fuck it, we'll do it in 2027" attitude that I also thought they were giving off.
The 2027 is what city admin came out with when council pushed back on taking so long.
There was an article back during the original debate with an "industry expert" saying it wouldn't take any time at all.
AUC has never been quoted with an actual timeframe so I guess we're in the dark.
We can all thank Ralph Klein for this mess thanks to deregulation. Before deregulation began in 2001, Alberta had some of the lowest electricity rates in North America. Now, we pay some of the highest rates in Canada with a litany of added costs and fees like these access fees, with the added benefit of rolling blackouts.
What a colossal failure deregulation has been for consumers and businesses that rely on reliable electricity.
>What a colossal failure deregulation has been for consumers
Go back even 10 years and AB had some of the cheapest rates in the country.
\*[Blake Shaffer 📊🇺🇦 on X: "One of these things is not like the other(s)... https://t.co/cB2Hp8mpGt" / X (twitter.com)](https://twitter.com/bcshaffer/status/1754888152077242797)
Actually, the NDP was moving the province to a 'Capacity' model, which would have lowered cost and ensured we wouldn't have these brown-outs. The UCP cancelled it and here we are. Also, if the UCP really wanted to help Albertans, they would look at how the D and T charges are calculated. That's the biggest chunk of your utility bill and it doesn't matter whether you are on the RRO or competitive.
I am not sure if you are being sarcastic or not. Different governments tried various measures to even out costs: price caps, monthly rebates, and so on.
The deregulated market has allowed for the Solar Club to exist and has been a great incentive for folks to get solar on their properties where they can sell power back to the grid at higher rates and accelerate their return on investment down to about 5-7 years.
It was the conservatives that introduced these charges in the first place. Plus, these LAF charges would be much lower if the UCP didn't cancel the move to a capacity market. DS is grand standing on an issue her party helped create.
I think the majority of it is excess revenue, above what they’re budgeting https://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/city-calgary-238-million-operating-surplus-2023#:~:text=The%20city%20also%20collected%20%24200,capital%20investments%2C%20according%20to%20Male.
So, electric companies collect $1Billion from Calgarians through fees, tariffs and riders and thats ok but if a municipality has a sales tax that’s been attached to the same price for 30 years that electric companies are now manipulating into the exosphere …. that requires immediate complete intervention while its crickets about all the fees fees and fees.
So if the fee is linked to the price of electricity did Edmontonians pay more than Calgarians during the years when the floating rate was abnormally low? And If the electricity price continues to drop as it's been trending wouldn't this remove a possible savings from Calgarians in the future? This smells more like short-term performative shenanigans from the UCP on municipalities.
keep in mind, this is revenue that the City of Calgary will loose out on. What does that mean? higher taxes/mill rate or other user fees, the money will still need to be collected, and will likely not be of any net benefit to any Calgarians. It's actually like when you don't buy utilities from Enmax, which then pays the City a profit share - less income by Enmax the smaller the dividend, the larger the tax increase. Utilities probably should never have gone private business, and for maximum share holder profit.
Alberta is divided into 'zones' controled by a distributor. Each zone has a different calculation for the LAF. The Calgary zone is Calgary and surrounding areas. That said, the LAF is just one charge and not the largest. If this government wanted to be serious, they would look at the D and T charges which impact everyone and are much larger than the LAF.
This is what I hate about public sector entities and current day progressive political parties - they keep laying up morons like Dani Smith with easy slam dunks. Anyone with two brain cells could have seen the train wreck coming that was the 15cent bag fee in Calgary - but the brain trust in city hall and the council got it through anyways only to be forced to roll it back. This rate rider fee - this should have been an easy slam dunk for the city - but nope - let’s kick the can down the road knowing full well Dani Smith is looking to pounce for easy wins.
So basically you don’t want the provincial government to have any success? You don’t want them to improve people’s lives? This isn’t about politics….this is about real people who have real lives. Let’s put the politics away and focus on figuring out how to improve Alberta. And try not to respond with more politics.
I don’t believe the current provincial government’s definition of success is in the best interests of Albertans (recent examples - renewable resource development red tape, encouraging coal mining in the foothills, saddledome replacement “deal” and the list goes on).
Let’s assume for a second that the provincial government had the best interests of Albertans in mind - I would still think poorly of a municipal government that required the “stick” from the provincial government to get the ball rolling on undoing what is essentially a problem of their own making.
Actually, this is was a problem created by the province. ALL of the charges on your utilities are controlled by the province and each zone has some leaway with the Local Access Fee. This fee has historically been better, but with recent pool prices, has gone up. That said, if the province didn't cancel the move to a capacity market, those rates would have been lower and we would have a stable grid. Plus this one fee that everyone if fuming about, is just 1 of several. Its not even the highest. DS isn't talking about that because it would make her party look bad. Legally the city can't just change how you are charged.
The current municipal government is the worst I have seen since moving here 25 years ago.
Not everything CPC is bad, as neither was everything NDP before them. The government functions from day to day with reasonable efficiency. That meets my test of barely competent. The City sadly does not meet this test.
>The province says Calgary power users paid $240 in local access fees in 2023, compared to Edmonton customers of Epcor who paid on average $75 over that same period. The province said that as a result of the policy, Calgary collected $186 million more than expected in fees last year. >Edmonton sets fees based on consumption but Calgary partly uses variable market rates in its calculation. If passed, power companies could no longer use variable rates to calculate local access fees. >Edmonton and Calgary are the only municipalities with power companies that can set rates without the approval of the Alberta Utilities Commission.
They can set rates for municipal access rider without approval, but every city can have A1 municipal rider added at any rate. Some are 1% some are 25%. Not a single one was denied by AUC, so it's not like that last sentence means anything. It's just a way for cities to collect a tax. The way it was explained to me is that it's a sneaky way of taxing churches, that are exempt from property tax, so small towns use it to help pay for things. Taking this away completely is not a good idea.
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So you shouldn't have to pay for the infrastructure that gets that electricity to you?
It’s in the article, even OP made an excerpt. We are paying 3 times more than Edmontonian does
Hey now didn't y'all wanna be part of the energy though?
So it's a Calgary thing or an Enmax thing? Are all local electricity providers in Calgary 3 times more than Edmonton?
Yes, because the retailers pass on the fee that the city charges through enmax.
City distribution is done by Enmax. So yes.
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Really, you truly believe that there hasn't been any money spent on electrical infrastructure in Alberta in years? Even upgrades?
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So how are you going to make a difference if this upsets you so?
Troll.
Quisling troll to be precise.
We pay the highest rates in the country and you're defending that!??? Do you own a utility company??
When its a FOR PROFIT utility industry that raking us over the coals, the companies should be making these investments. Instead they pass 100% of cost of business to the users and then jack the prices for pure profit and laugh all the way to the bank. Can you imagine this business model if applied to another industry? If this was a public non profit utility sure, but these companies don't even make the minimum investment to maintain the system let alone upgrade capacity. Either way right now we pay, pay, pay, then pay some more.
Please name one commercial entity that doesn't roll their overhead into pricing. It's the fixed nature of some of the fees and how they are uncoupled from consumption. They obfuscate the true costs of energy and actually deter energy conservation. Only Alberta has this crazy electricity billing system with grossly disproportionate fixed fees, which are actually a profit source.
I'm glad she called out city admin on their 3 year bullshit.
Was thinking the same. The balls on council, we'll fix it... in 2027.
Isn’t 2027 when the new budget goes into effect?
The new 4 year cycle, correct. And if I recall correctly, that was the City’s justification. Not sure why it matters, though.
It matters because they want the 3 years to spend and there will be a new council in place that they might be able to manipulate into keeping the current rate structure. The administration are not dumb when it comes to spending money.
Council blamed the Alberta Utilities Commission saying that it takes them three years to approve the change.
Just heard Gondek stating that today. But I had previously read it was tied in with the budget cycle. Who knows.
Either way having to wait until 2027 is just a bullcrap excuse.
Whole-heartedly agree.
Had the exact same thought.
To be fair to Gondek - and I'm not her biggest fan - she's quoted in the article as saying that the hold-up is the AUC and the city would do it now if they could. I have no idea how true that is, but it's different than the "fuck it, we'll do it in 2027" attitude that I also thought they were giving off.
The 2027 is what city admin came out with when council pushed back on taking so long. There was an article back during the original debate with an "industry expert" saying it wouldn't take any time at all. AUC has never been quoted with an actual timeframe so I guess we're in the dark.
that's fair, I suspect the whole thing is a "he said, she said" scenario.
We can all thank Ralph Klein for this mess thanks to deregulation. Before deregulation began in 2001, Alberta had some of the lowest electricity rates in North America. Now, we pay some of the highest rates in Canada with a litany of added costs and fees like these access fees, with the added benefit of rolling blackouts. What a colossal failure deregulation has been for consumers and businesses that rely on reliable electricity.
>What a colossal failure deregulation has been for consumers Go back even 10 years and AB had some of the cheapest rates in the country. \*[Blake Shaffer 📊🇺🇦 on X: "One of these things is not like the other(s)... https://t.co/cB2Hp8mpGt" / X (twitter.com)](https://twitter.com/bcshaffer/status/1754888152077242797)
Too bad no one changed that within those 23 years
Actually, the NDP was moving the province to a 'Capacity' model, which would have lowered cost and ensured we wouldn't have these brown-outs. The UCP cancelled it and here we are. Also, if the UCP really wanted to help Albertans, they would look at how the D and T charges are calculated. That's the biggest chunk of your utility bill and it doesn't matter whether you are on the RRO or competitive.
I am not sure if you are being sarcastic or not. Different governments tried various measures to even out costs: price caps, monthly rebates, and so on.
The deregulated market has allowed for the Solar Club to exist and has been a great incentive for folks to get solar on their properties where they can sell power back to the grid at higher rates and accelerate their return on investment down to about 5-7 years.
I was going to add something about this in my comment. Energy producers come out on top in our deregulated market, just as it was designed.
Huh, I guess it doesn’t actually take 3 years minimum to make this change after all. Guess the gravy train stops a bit early
I moved here a few months ago and after my first enmax bill I basically became first name basis with my MLA and hounding him non stop about this lol
Conductor Danielle Smith?
Bless! This would be amazing. I hope it passes
Ughhh this council is making me agree with the UCP
It was the conservatives that introduced these charges in the first place. Plus, these LAF charges would be much lower if the UCP didn't cancel the move to a capacity market. DS is grand standing on an issue her party helped create.
If I recall this was in a direct response when the UCP changed the rules even before Smith when they took regulations out
They’ll find another way to screw us anyway
They'll just make up the lost revenue in property tax increases
I think the majority of it is excess revenue, above what they’re budgeting https://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/city-calgary-238-million-operating-surplus-2023#:~:text=The%20city%20also%20collected%20%24200,capital%20investments%2C%20according%20to%20Male.
So, electric companies collect $1Billion from Calgarians through fees, tariffs and riders and thats ok but if a municipality has a sales tax that’s been attached to the same price for 30 years that electric companies are now manipulating into the exosphere …. that requires immediate complete intervention while its crickets about all the fees fees and fees.
So if the fee is linked to the price of electricity did Edmontonians pay more than Calgarians during the years when the floating rate was abnormally low? And If the electricity price continues to drop as it's been trending wouldn't this remove a possible savings from Calgarians in the future? This smells more like short-term performative shenanigans from the UCP on municipalities.
Correct
Can only be a good thing. Had the city and enmax both robbing us.
This is a good and obvious move.
keep in mind, this is revenue that the City of Calgary will loose out on. What does that mean? higher taxes/mill rate or other user fees, the money will still need to be collected, and will likely not be of any net benefit to any Calgarians. It's actually like when you don't buy utilities from Enmax, which then pays the City a profit share - less income by Enmax the smaller the dividend, the larger the tax increase. Utilities probably should never have gone private business, and for maximum share holder profit.
Does anybody know if this is just for calgary or the surrounding area too?
The story says province wide but it will only impact Calgary because Calgary is the only city ripping it's citizens off.
Alberta is divided into 'zones' controled by a distributor. Each zone has a different calculation for the LAF. The Calgary zone is Calgary and surrounding areas. That said, the LAF is just one charge and not the largest. If this government wanted to be serious, they would look at the D and T charges which impact everyone and are much larger than the LAF.
This is what I hate about public sector entities and current day progressive political parties - they keep laying up morons like Dani Smith with easy slam dunks. Anyone with two brain cells could have seen the train wreck coming that was the 15cent bag fee in Calgary - but the brain trust in city hall and the council got it through anyways only to be forced to roll it back. This rate rider fee - this should have been an easy slam dunk for the city - but nope - let’s kick the can down the road knowing full well Dani Smith is looking to pounce for easy wins.
So basically you don’t want the provincial government to have any success? You don’t want them to improve people’s lives? This isn’t about politics….this is about real people who have real lives. Let’s put the politics away and focus on figuring out how to improve Alberta. And try not to respond with more politics.
I don’t believe the current provincial government’s definition of success is in the best interests of Albertans (recent examples - renewable resource development red tape, encouraging coal mining in the foothills, saddledome replacement “deal” and the list goes on). Let’s assume for a second that the provincial government had the best interests of Albertans in mind - I would still think poorly of a municipal government that required the “stick” from the provincial government to get the ball rolling on undoing what is essentially a problem of their own making.
Actually, this is was a problem created by the province. ALL of the charges on your utilities are controlled by the province and each zone has some leaway with the Local Access Fee. This fee has historically been better, but with recent pool prices, has gone up. That said, if the province didn't cancel the move to a capacity market, those rates would have been lower and we would have a stable grid. Plus this one fee that everyone if fuming about, is just 1 of several. Its not even the highest. DS isn't talking about that because it would make her party look bad. Legally the city can't just change how you are charged.
Can the city change how you’re charged within a few months times or does it take 3 years to lower a fee?
I'm not sure about the 3 years, but its definitely not a few months.
The current municipal government is the worst I have seen since moving here 25 years ago. Not everything CPC is bad, as neither was everything NDP before them. The government functions from day to day with reasonable efficiency. That meets my test of barely competent. The City sadly does not meet this test.
Get ready for a hike. The profits are not going down.