Cheap Energy is Costly!

[HunterDave]

Who's everyone with for Gas and Electricity and how much are you paying for an average sized house?

Last November I switched to ATCO from AltaGas and EPCOR to lock in at $.03 per KWH and GJ. Cheap energy sounds good right? Well, it turned out to be a failed experiment. Before the change my average combined monthly bill was approximately $200. After switching to ATCO it jumped to over $400/month. Today, after receiving my second bill, I jumped ship and returned to AltaGas and EPCOR.

So, if I'm getting cheap energy how is it that my bill is twice as much? From Nov 6 - Dec 19 my delivery charges were as follows:
Electricity - $177.88
Gas - $113.30
Compare those charges to the delivery charges on your bills! (PS: I'd be curious to know what other people paid in comparison).

I did my due diligence and specifically asked about the delivery charges and although they couldn't give me an exact cost, they assured me that it would be approximately the same as what I was currently paying. NOT!

Then this.......I had to suck up more charges, $300 in cancellation fees with ATCO, a $37 Re-activation fee with AltaGas, and a $10 service fee with EPCOR.

It's going to take months to break even from this but eventually it's for the greater good. Lesson learned.

[Jim Blake]

Between the extra charges and carbon tax the fee for the actual product is next to nothing.

[nsmitchell]

I always wondered about that. Thanks for finding out for the rest of us albeit the hard way. I was thinking of doing the same and will stay where I am though still too damned expensive.

[Ken07AOVette]

Cancellation fees. That should be illegal. Took them what, 64 seconds on the computer?

[urban rednek]

We're on the EasyMax program with Enmax; very convenient with electricity, gas, water, sewer, and all 3 levels of garbage charges (black, blue, & green bins) on one bill. We are on the floating rate for both gas and electricity.
Here is the break down of our bill during the similar time period:
Electricity, 868kWh- November 13 to December 11
Total cost- $136.86
Cost of electricity only- $56.45
Administration, Delivery, Distribution, Transmission, Balancing Pool, Rate Rider, & Local access fee- $80.41

Natural Gas, 13.98 GJ- November 1 to December 1
Total cost- $109.40
Cost of Natural Gas only- $24.37
Administration, Transaction, Delivery (Fixed & Variable), Rate Riders, Municipal franchise fee, Carbon levy- $85.03

Don't focus on any difference in total energy consumption; city property versus country property, and average temperature differences will impact usage.

[Cement Bench]

use spot power they have been the cheapest and most reliable for questions in the last 3 years

we got most of the 600 members in TREA to switch form EPCOR in the last 3 years we were getting screwed Cement Bench

[fishtank]

Add about 90% carbon tax to you gas ( my gas usage was 67$ and carbon tax was little over $60)

[DRhunter]

I also switched to Atco for that deal in December. Surprised to hear your issue.

Got my first bill just this week, I compared to my bill same period last year with easy max. Essentially the same amount of power and gas burned for both bills, year over year and all fees (delivery etc) were essentially the same as my bill last year. Only difference was my usage fees were lower and the damn carbon tax was up.

DR


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[HunterDave]

I’ve been discussing this on a local Facebook group and I think that a lot of people are coming to the realization that they are paying way to much for their energy. In Morinville the gas lines are owned by AltaGas and their delivery charges are the lowest that people have reported. The power lines are owned by Fortis but for some reason EPCOR is half the cost for delivery than ATCO.

I’m thinking that ATCO sells the energy at or near cost and makes their profits by inflating the delivery costs. At any rate, paying $264 in delivery costs when it was less than half that amount prior to switching to ATCO isn’t going to fly. I’m back with EPCOR and AltaGas effective Monday.

[waldedw]

Originally Posted by Jim Blake

Between the extra charges and carbon tax the fee for the actual product is next to nothing.

Absolutely bang on, if you really figure out your utility bills over a year ( which I do ) you will find that your actual electricity and gas usage is less that 25% of your total bill, the rest is transmission fees, administration fee's, gst, carbon tax, line upgrade riders, city access fees, meter fee's etc. and in the summer that % is even skewed more as the actual amount of gas / electricity used drops drastically, I have had gas bills in the summer where the total bill was $70 and the actual gas usage was under $10 so the actual cost of gas used was only 13% of the total bill. Our electricity and gas are cheap in this country, it's the add ons that are expensive, it's called bureaucracy hard at work

[Big Grey Wolf]

Gas company changed out their gas meter twice in last 3 years. They could not believe a home over 2000 sq ft could be heated for $57/month. However now around $80/month. Lots of insulation and burn some birch wood during very cold weather.

[Zip]

I’m sure glad we left that mess of extra fees behind.. just on the extra fees and my land taxes that I don’t pay anymore at our old place in Nampa area.. pay for my lease lot and golf membership at Pigeon Lake.. now it may not be the best course in the neighbourhood, but I use it almost everyday.. I’m now getting fun out of not having to waste money on service fees.. my new land taxes are a mere $43.00 this year, we are totally off grid now and it’s just fine.. way cheaper and alot more fun..those pesky service fees are a ridiculous big cash cow for those who make those fun names up that they call em!!
Zip

[kbobbeck]

my contract with Direct energy was due to end Jan 31, I called them and they matched the best deal available at the time which was Atco"s 3 for 3. You just have to ask your supplier for a better deal. It worked for me.