Enmax Bills

[calgarygeologist]

I'm scared to see my next bill now. I just paid my Enmax bill up to Jan 11 and it was $394 which was only about $60 to $80 more than my previous two bills.

I contacted Enmax in December though to ask about them matching the free electricity promo that Atco was doing and they gave me a rebate of $179 which was pretty awesome. I only had to pay $214 on my last bill.

[InglewoodFan]

I'm fairly sure this is the document that outlines all the approved fees and tariffs for 2017 so far. http://www.auc.ab.ca/regulatory_docu...6-D01-2016.pdf

More information here: http://www.auc.ab.ca/utility-sector/...ofService.aspx

[Ace]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Ya, I don't understand and need to call them. A bunch of the "fixed" fees on the gas side almost doubled between November and December. I used a lot more gas than usual becuase one of us was home almost very day, but it doesn't make sense that the fixed fee should have increased as well. Isn't that why they are fixed and not variable?

Are you sure these are 'fixed' fees, a lot of the 'fees' are actually still usage based.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by Ace

Are you sure here are 'fixed' fees, a lot of the 'fees' are actually still usage based.

Under gas, I've got
November:
ATCO Fixed Charge: 23.64
ATCO variable charge: 5.92
Rate Riders: 9.80
Municipal Franchise Fee 7.17

December:
ATCO Fixed Charge: 27.76
ATCO variable charge: 12.80
Rate Riders: 19.62
Municipal Franchise Fee 11.81
Carbon levy(includes 5 days in January) 2.74

So, OK, there is a variable fee but it doesn't say its based on usage like the other charges above it, what makes it vary? Usage? Market forces? Wims? But the fixed charge went up a bit, the rate rider almost doubled(is this variable, based on usage? Not clear...) and the franchise fee is up as well.

[Bob]

Nov 2016: $99 (because they "forgot" to bill me for gas or whatever)
Dec 2016: $303 (includes Nov gas)
Jan 2017: $265

Compare with the previous year:
Nov 2015: $177
Dec 2015: $197
Jan 2016: $223

Difference is about $60. I think the majority of the electrical usage variance I'm seeing is actually my furnace fan. I don't cook often enough for my oven/stove to be that big of an impact, and my TV is rarely on most days.

[The Yen Man]

Mine was actually surprisingly consistent. I was dreading a huge jump, but only went up about $30 from my previous month's bill.

But then, I use less gas than other houses as my water tank is electric. Maybe that has something to do with it, who knows. But then, I've already been paying more a month than normal for utilities because of that stupid tank, so maybe now, it's just everyone else's bill catching up to mine?

[Icon]

Had a $130 increase on February's vs. January's. I tried to look up why but the site was down for maitenance so I can't look at the bill details, grr.

edit - site working now... our gas usage doubled (makes sense, was cold), and a bit higher electricity usage (makes sense, christmas lights and stuff I guess)

Meh.

[Ace]

Nm

[chemgear]

The carbon tax is working! Pay more! More!

It's only going to go up every January.

[mrkajz44]

You guys got me all worried, so I went and checked my last few bills (Enmax). Nothing really out of the ordinary. This last bill for January was my highest yet by around $10 compared to prior years, so I'm thinking that's just the carbon tax difference.

Something sounds odd with the OP for an increase of $150.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by Ace

Are you sure these are 'fixed' fees, a lot of the 'fees' are still usage based.

I would assume the fixed fees are the ones not multiplied by a usage amount that is shown on the bill. On Enmax bills they show something like:
Transaction Fee 16.5 GJ @ $0.47/GJ

So that is a variable rate. If it isn't shown that way, I can only assume it is fixed. I understand it will change a bit month to month becuase of # of billing days, but my previous example showed swings greater than that.

[REDVAN]

I just looked at ours... including the "my energy IQ" function.

Looks like I use about the same amount of gas as "similar homes" but we use almost double the electricity!!!

There is someone there all day everyday, so I guess that makes sense.

Our billing date is in a few days so I am not looking forward to this one.

Edit: Our usual bill is about 400 in February (for mostly January usage). And our summer bills are 200ish. Just for some perspective. 2500sqft, 2014 construction.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Since people tend to rail against condo owners claiming it is actually more expensive than home ownership, I just wanted to mention that I paid $37 to Enmax for my Dec/Jan billing cycle. That's about normal even with slightly increased usage due to the cold but I'm on a floating rate so that depends too.

[4X4]

That's nice. How much were your condo fees? That's what paid the heat. Also, you're paying someone else to shovel your walk. Pretty ritzy, bud.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Originally Posted by 4X4

That's nice. How much were your condo fees? That's what paid the heat. Also, you're paying someone else to shovel your walk. Pretty ritzy, bud.

lol ok then. First off, my heat is included in my electric bill. Second, everyone knows that other expenses are included in the condo fees. But when the discussion of condo ownership comes up, condo fees are often cited as some crazy expense that make condos a huge rip off to own. I'm just pointing out that paying 1/10 of homeowners may account for some of that.

[4X4]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

lol ok then. First off, my heat is included in my electric bill. Second, everyone knows that other expenses are included in the condo fees. But when the discussion of condo ownership comes up, condo fees are often cited as some crazy expense that make condos a huge rip off to own. I'm just pointing out that paying 1/10 of homeowners may account for some of that.

Whatever you say. Can't recall any discussions here where people rag on you for owning a condo. I was just replying to your dbag post with one of my own.

You and puckluck err calgaryblood should become roommates and commiserate about how mean calgarypuck is to the two of you.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Ok, this just got weird and strangely personal.

Maybe you should go back and read it again. I never referenced myself or CP when referring to condo ownership being questioned.

But if you feel that upset about my joke, I'm sorry. I was just playing around.

[The Yen Man]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

Since people tend to rail against condo owners claiming it is actually more expensive than home ownership, I just wanted to mention that I paid $37 to Enmax for my Dec/Jan billing cycle. That's about normal even with slightly increased usage due to the cold but I'm on a floating rate so that depends too.

Who rails against condo owners? It would definitely make way more sense that condos are cheaper utility wise. It's like half the space. It's the special assessments and needing to adhere to crappy condo rules that turns me off, not the condo fees.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Ok clearly this touched a nerve. I was just having some fun. I've heard the condo thing a number of times in the past about the fees.

I didn't mean to turn this into some heated condo vs house debate. I was just ribbing the homeowners for their large utility bills. I hope no one took it personally.

[4X4]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

Ok clearly this touched a nerve. I was just having some fun. I've heard the condo thing a number of times in the past about the fees.

I didn't mean to turn this into some heated condo vs house debate. I was just ribbing the homeowners for their large utility bills. I hope no one took it personally.

Oh, sorry. Sounded like one of your posts where you're all butthurt about something that nobody has mentioned.