Enmax fixed vs. floating rates...

[morgin]

So, bump because it's time to figure this out for us.

We're on the old Easymax plan with enmax.
EasyMax: Floating Electricity
EasyMax: Floating Gas + 47¢/GJ Transaction Fee

Paying around $250 a month for a family of 2 in a ~2000sq ft place.

Looks like we use around 625KWh a month of electricity, and 6.5-7 GJ of gas.

Water is around 12m3 a month - with the other city services (garbage, drainage, sewer) it makes up $102.06 of the ~$250 bill.

the "My Energy IQ" thing says we are sort of in the middle between efficient homes and similar homes. Kind of odd - we have all LED lighting, super efficient furnance, super efficient appliances, etc.

Anyway, ATCO has been sending some pamphlets and their plan for a 3 year term with variable rates is:

Electricity: Market + $0.01/kWh
Gas: Market + $0.89/GJ
Admin : $3.50 flat per site.

Enmax is also pushing hard to switch to the new, non-easymax program. I assume that makes it a worse deal, or else they wouldnt want us to switch.

I'm finding with all of the admin and other fees it is very difficult to do any sort of flat compare. Anyone whipped up an excel chart that you could input historical rates, admin fees, and other charges with the various providers and it would tell you what the best options were at least historically?

This shouldn't be so difficult to compare :/

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by morgin

So, bump because it's time to figure this out for us.

We're on the old Easymax plan with enmax.
EasyMax: Floating Electricity
EasyMax: Floating Gas + 47¢/GJ Transaction Fee

Paying around $250 a month for a family of 2 in a ~2000sq ft place.

Looks like we use around 625KWh a month of electricity, and 6.5-7 GJ of gas.

Water is around 12m3 a month - with the other city services (garbage, drainage, sewer) it makes up $102.06 of the ~$250 bill.

the "My Energy IQ" thing says we are sort of in the middle between efficient homes and similar homes. Kind of odd - we have all LED lighting, super efficient furnance, super efficient appliances, etc.

Anyway, ATCO has been sending some pamphlets and their plan for a 3 year term with variable rates is:

Electricity: Market + $0.01/kWh
Gas: Market + $0.89/GJ
Admin : $3.50 flat per site.

Enmax is also pushing hard to switch to the new, non-easymax program. I assume that makes it a worse deal, or else they wouldnt want us to switch.

I'm finding with all of the admin and other fees it is very difficult to do any sort of flat compare. Anyone whipped up an excel chart that you could input historical rates, admin fees, and other charges with the various providers and it would tell you what the best options were at least historically?

This shouldn't be so difficult to compare :/

http://callmepower.ca/en/ab/compare/...-direct-energy

According to this, they essentially say Enmax hands down for electricity and gas based on 2014/2015 info. I am unsure of the validity of this claim.

And floating > Fixed they say

Also something something about dual fuel customers should use Direct Energy for a portion? IDK.

I'm 100% Enmax purely for convenience purposes. Yeah I bch and moan about the cost and fees, but the city gets this money vs some corp in Texas... so I guess it's less bad even if I paid a little bit more?

[heep223]

Originally Posted by DoubleF

I'm 100% Enmax purely for convenience purposes. Yeah I bch and moan about the cost and fees, but the city gets this money vs some corp in Texas... so I guess it's less bad even if I paid a little bit more?

I have a buddy who works for Enmax and he says it's a horribly run organization, and the amount of taxpayer money they waste continues to shock him after 3 years of being there. They just don't give a #### at all, they waste materials, waste man hours, overstaff, it's all unionized, takes forever to get anything done, you can check out whatever tools you want whenever you want and basically just take them.

The more you know!

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by heep223

I have a buddy who works for Enmax and he says it's a horribly run organization, and the amount of taxpayer money they waste continues to shock him after 3 years of being there. They just don't give a #### at all, they waste materials, waste man hours, overstaff, it's all unionized, takes forever to get anything done, you can check out whatever tools you want whenever you want and basically just take them.

The more you know!

Yup. I knew that. But sadly, still better than sending money down south of the border.

[worth]

So how is the upcoming Carbon tax going to impact rates in the province? Any guesses?

[stampsx2]

Originally Posted by worth

So how is the upcoming Carbon tax going to impact rates in the province? Any guesses?

It's going up for sure. The ndp said in their budget it will be a little over $1 per gigajoule.

[Fuzz]

That's for gas. You will then also have a "hidden" increase for electricity. I think the only way you could figure that out is find out the percentage of Alberta's gas powered electricity and coal and do some rough numbers on it.

[CroFlames]

I can't believe they are introducing a carbon tax at a time of economic downturn. What silly people in government.

Her response to people complaining about gasoline prices was to "change your car". What is the response to people struggling to pay the gas bill to heat their home and cook their food? "oh, just go freeze to death you poor #######"

[mrkajz44]

Since it seems like 75% of my bill is admin type items, and only 25% is actually connected to the actual price of gas / electricity, I doubt I would see much change in my bills going forward. I wonder if this would apply to most.

[stampsx2]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

I can't believe they are introducing a carbon tax at a time of economic downturn. What silly people in government.

Her response to people complaining about gasoline prices was to "change your car". What is the response to people struggling to pay the gas bill to heat their home and cook their food? "oh, just go freeze to death you poor #######"

She also said you can save money by getting a high efficiency toilet.

[stampsx2]

Originally Posted by mrkajz44

Since it seems like 75% of my bill is admin type items, and only 25% is actually connected to the actual price of gas / electricity, I doubt I would see much change in my bills going forward. I wonder if this would apply to most.

only $15/month more in heating. Another $20/month more in electricity. 4cents/liter more added to gas prices next year, another 6cents/liter more the year after. A little more for alchohol. But if you're low enough income you'll get a cheque half way through the year.

The ndp says it's revenue neutral so it will go back to albertans and subsidize wind and solar.

[redmile04]

Bumping this to see if someone with more insight & knowledge can help me.. and possibly others out.

What is recommended today? Fixed or Variable for both electricity & gas.

Also, who can would you recommend? Enmax or ATCO?

I got an offer for a month free with ATCO and they offer a $50 yearly credit but wondering if it s worth switching based on opinions of others? I am clueless about the rates... they seem more of less the same.

Thanks in advance!

[DatSOOKin]

Originally Posted by redmile04

Bumping this to see if someone with more insight & knowledge can help me.. and possibly others out.

What is recommended today? Fixed or Variable for both electricity & gas.

Also, who can would you recommend? Enmax or ATCO?

I got an offer for a month free with ATCO and they offer a $50 yearly credit but wondering if it s worth switching based on opinions of others? I am clueless about the rates... they seem more of less the same.

Thanks in advance!

Also curious about the current state of affairs, as I will be moving into my first place where the utilities aren't part of the rent. I'll have to set it up on Saturday and hoping to get some insight into pros/cons of the two companies and plan types.

[accord1999]

The optimal if using Enmax is to get on the RRO rate for electricity because you can see its rate at the start of a month from http://www.auc.ab.ca/Pages/current-rates-electric.aspx. Then for that month, just select whichever of RRO or fixed is less using your online account. ATCO has lower admin fees but doesn't do RRO in Calgary so you're more exposed with floating rates.


The floating rate for natural gas has been much cheaper pretty much since fracking became big.

[fundmark19]

Well my one year term from atco promotion is up. What current deals do we have out there. Atco is offering $50 credit if I lock into 3 year term. I saw direct energy was free Alexa or security camera.

What is this years best deal?

[accord1999]

Originally Posted by fundmark19

Well my one year term from atco promotion is up. What current deals do we have out there. Atco is offering $50 credit if I lock into 3 year term. I saw direct energy was free Alexa or security camera.

ATCO has a new 3-year contract offer for 3¢/kWh for electricity and $3/GJ for natural gas might be good. If you're a big electricity user (ie mining at home, electric heating, big house with airconditioning etc) it can be a substantial savings as well as protect you from the significant price fluctuations of the past summer.

The downside is that it's a real contract with a pretty severe cancellation fee of $300 within the first year and declining by $100 each year.

[Calgary14]

Originally Posted by accord1999

ATCO has a new 3-year contract offer for 3¢/kWh for electricity and $3/GJ for natural gas might be good. If you're a big electricity user (ie mining at home, electric heating, big house with airconditioning etc) it can be a substantial savings as well as protect you from the significant price fluctuations of the past summer.

The downside is that it's a real contract with a pretty severe cancellation fee of $300 within the first year and declining by $100 each year.

Are all the other fees the same as Enmax for that contract?

[GGG]

Originally Posted by accord1999

ATCO has a new 3-year contract offer for 3¢/kWh for electricity and $3/GJ for natural gas might be good. If you're a big electricity user (ie mining at home, electric heating, big house with airconditioning etc) it can be a substantial savings as well as protect you from the significant price fluctuations of the past summer.

The downside is that it's a real contract with a pretty severe cancellation fee of $300 within the first year and declining by $100 each year.

Do you have to take both the electricity and the gas? That Gas price is higher than anytime in the last two years. So if you are at 1000kwh per month and 10 GJ you end up paying around $20-30 less for electricity but $15- $20 more for gas. You’d really have to check your historic usage rates

[Calgary14]

Enmax has a referral deal right now where any new accounts get a $50 Amazon gift card, DM me if you want the link

[fundmark19]

Looks like direct energy’s deal isn’t great at all. Natural gas and electricity higher than atco. So by looking at the enmax chart gas is around 2 cents? But you add .99 cent transaction fee that puts you right around 3 or am I reading this wrong

Electricity
6.19 ¢/Kwh
+
Natural Gas
$3.69/Gj