Enmax fixed vs. floating rates...

[Kiran403]

Just got my renewal notice from Just Energy. I had locked in with them before at a rate right around 8 cents which seemed to work pretty well. They are currently offering 8.39 cents for 5 years. I'm leaning towards renewing but I'm not sure how much electricity will fluctuate over the next 5 years. Personally I think there will be price increases as most resources and energy sources seem to be going up in price. Thoughts from anyone on fixed vs floating rates?

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by Kiran403

Just got my renewal notice from Just Energy. I had locked in with them before at a rate right around 8 cents which seemed to work pretty well. They are currently offering 8.39 cents for 5 years. I'm leaning towards renewing but I'm not sure how much electricity will fluctuate over the next 5 years. Personally I think there will be price increases as most resources and energy sources seem to be going up in price. Thoughts from anyone on fixed vs floating rates?

Do Just Energy allow you out of the contract penalty free? Enmax does, so it might be worth switching to them for that reason alone.

[Raekwon]

Just energy charges to terminate a contract early. Look into other options, I recently left just energy and went with Spark.

[Kiran403]

I'll have to look into Spark.

I went on the Enmax site and their price listed for 5 years was 8.9 cents + $7.10 per month admin which is a little bit more than Just Energy but the option for penalty-free exit is nice though.

[ken0042]

Good that you are looking at the admin fee; however make sure you look at all the charges and credits.

For example on my latest Enmax bill I used 1007 kWhs. Price for the electricity was $80.56 but the total electrical portion was $146.23. Not sure how that factors into what you are paying; or if it helps.

[Raekwon]

Here is a nice price guide

http://www.ucahelps.alberta.ca/price-summary.aspx

[the wanderer]

Originally Posted by ken0042

Good that you are looking at the admin fee; however make sure you look at all the charges and credits.

For example on my latest Enmax bill I used 1007 kWhs. Price for the electricity was $80.56 but the total electrical portion was $146.23. Not sure how that factors into what you are paying; or if it helps.

All companies charge the same distribution/transition fees. On an enmax invoice anything below the delivery charges section is charged on behalf of the distributor (which in Calgary is Enmax power) every company will charge the same for each of these fees.

The only difference are the energy charge, admin fee, transaction fee(for variable pricing) and any rebates (like enmax $100/year rewards for bundling gas and electricity)

[the wanderer]

Originally Posted by bomber317

Does anybody know what's going on with the new floating rates?

https://www.enmax.com/Energy/Res/My+...yMax+Rates.htm

If you signed up for the floating Rate before June 1st, the rates look to be more expensive.

If you signed up for the floating Rate after June 1st, they seem to be significantly cheaper... unless I'm missing something obvious.

the rate change is for floating electricity depends on the terms and conditions you signed up for. If you signed prior to June 1 2012 you are on old terms and conditions. the old terms and conditions have the variable rate matching the regulated rate. The regulated rate is set at the beginning of the mth and does not necessarily represent the actual rate at the time you used it If you signed up after June 1 2012 you get the actual average rate charged on the open market plus 1c/kwh.

If you signed up before June 1st and want the new terms and conditions you can easily get them. Personally I prefer the guaranteed rate for electricity. It avoids the massive fluctuations in price.

The new terms and conditions have a few other changes.

[Cortez]

BUMP

I am moving into my new house in a month - I have never in my life had to worry about electricity and gas bills as everything was included in my rent.
I'm trying to decide on fixed vs floating rates and who to use, and I found this thread.

It seems like enmax easymax is the way to go and just watch the rates and switch between fixed vs floating as needed. I feel like I'm missing something though- that seems too easy and too beneficial to me the user? Why would enmax allow you to switch back and forth like that? What am I missing here?

[arsenal]

Originally Posted by Cortez

BUMP

I am moving into my new house in a month - I have never in my life had to worry about electricity and gas bills as everything was included in my rent.
I'm trying to decide on fixed vs floating rates and who to use, and I found this thread.

It seems like enmax easymax is the way to go and just watch the rates and switch between fixed vs floating as needed. I feel like I'm missing something though- that seems too easy and too beneficial to me the user? Why would enmax allow you to switch back and forth like that? What am I missing here?

Nothing. You are allowed to switch once every 30 days. Generally people lock in electricity and float gas.

[Cortez]

Thanks,
Where can I find current rates? All i see is a rate for February on the enmax website

[arsenal]

http://www.enmax.com/easymax/residen...ent+Prices.htm

[me_dennis]

So I'm a little bit worried right now. I just called Enmax to sign up for Easymax, and I just found out that my water and sewer is not on my Enmax bill. I've been in this house since October 2012, and my gas was with Direct Energy, until I decided to sign up for Easymax now.

I checked with the condo board to see if water and sewer are included in the condo fees, and as expected, it is not.

Talking with a buddy, he said that he's heard of this happening before, where the city doesn't transfer over the paperwork to Enmax, and then BOOM one day there will be back charges.

Has anyone ever heard of this happening before? Any suggestions on what to do?

[Ducay]

Originally Posted by me_dennis

So I'm a little bit worried right now. I just called Enmax to sign up for Easymax, and I just found out that my water and sewer is not on my Enmax bill. I've been in this house since October 2012, and my gas was with Direct Energy, until I decided to sign up for Easymax now.

I checked with the condo board to see if water and sewer are included in the condo fees, and as expected, it is not.

Talking with a buddy, he said that he's heard of this happening before, where the city doesn't transfer over the paperwork to Enmax, and then BOOM one day there will be back charges.

Has anyone ever heard of this happening before? Any suggestions on what to do?

I believe we've had this happen on this forum a couple times. Basically if you're getting the service, Enmax will usually charge you for it eventually, and when they do, you don't really have an out. I would either a) contact Enmax and get it setup correctly to avoid later surprises, b) keep on the DL and pray they dont notice.

[bizaro86]

They will figure this out eventually, and then they'll charge you the arrears, plus likely some fees. Call them and get it fixed, and pay the bill from Oct until now.

[Canehdianman]

quick, move!

[mykalberta]

Would people still suggest floating gas? If you are going to lock in, now would be the time when gas is the lowest no?

I too will be new to this SFH living and paying the bills in a few months.

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by mykalberta

Would people still suggest floating gas? If you are going to lock in, now would be the time when gas is the lowest no?

The thing is the price to lock in would be around $6 per GJ. I haven't paid more than $4 per GJ for the past couple of years. You would have to see some stong indications that gas is going to go up quite a bit to consider locking in.

[Youzit]

Ok, I do not get this. I have to make a decision as to whether to go fixed or variable on Easymax, and the variable electricity rate is 14.86 cents/kwh vs. the fixed rate of 8.9 cents per kwh. It seems like I would be an idiot to go with the variable rate. That doesn't make sense to me, particularly if you think about mortgage rates where generally, the fixed rates are higher than the variable rates - you pay a higher interest on fixed rates to buy some peace of mind and the bank has to put in a cushion to make sure that they don't run the risk of being too low relative to the market sometime in the future.

So am I completely off base here? Confused!

[Rathji]

Since you can switch at any time, there is no point to going with variable unless you think the price will go down and you also think you won't notice that price going down.