There could be a couple things going on in your utility bill when you were on vacation.
1) The utility might not do a meter read every month, and estimate your bill based on prior months, and then true it up when you’re a meter read is done
2) You’re still using some gas/electricity to run your furnace, hot water tank, fridge, freezer etc while you’re away
3) The commodity charge is only a portion of the bill. The capital cost and costs to maintain the utility system is always charged to the utility customers, so the bill is high whether you’re using the commodity or not.
The retailer won’t make a huge difference overall, other than getting things like Easy Max dollars, loyalty credits, different admin/billing fees. The retailer really is the middleman between the customer and the utility owner. In Calgary, all the utility infrastructure is owned by Enmax. ATCO might send you the bill, but Enmax determines what you’ll have to pay get gas and electricity.
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