Have your say about utility rates
The Alberta Utilities Commission regulates
investor-owned electric, gas and water utilities and some municipally owned
electric utilities to ensure that Albertans receive safe and reliable utility
services at just and reasonable rates.
Regulated utilities must apply to the AUC for approval
of their future operating and capital costs. Once approved, these costs are
recovered from rates charged to their respective customers in their approved tariffs.
The AUC also approves utilities’ terms and conditions of service. Utilities’ applications are considered in a fair and
open regulatory process. In this process, the AUC and other participating
parties have the opportunity to review the utility’s application and ask
questions for clarification through written information requests and orally at
an oral hearing (if one is convened). Parties opposing the application may
present their own evidence (intervener evidence) and file their final submissions through argument
and reply argument. For more information on this process, please visit Rate review process.
The Office of the Utilities Consumer Advocate (UCA) was
established by the Alberta Government to represent Alberta residential, farm
and small commercial utility consumers in regulatory rate proceedings in an
effort to reduce duplication of intervener efforts and regulatory costs. For
more information, please visit the UCA website.
How to find rate proceedings
You can access rate applications currently being
considered by the AUC by creating an account for the eFiling System. To find a specific rate application that is
currently under review you will need a proceeding number, which is a five-digit
number that identifies the proceeding under which rate application(s) are
processed. The proceeding number can be found on the notice of application or on the list of applications published on the current applications list.
Once you have logged in to the eFiling System, enter
the proceeding number in the “go to…” field. The system will then let you know
that you have not registered to participate. At this time, you can determine
your level of participation in the proceeding. You have the option of
completing a statement of intent to participate to become an intervener in the
proceeding, or you can choose to observe the proceeding. If you choose to
observe the proceeding, you will have access to the application and all
documents filed on the proceeding, but will not be able to file any documents
of your own.
If you would like to know more about how a rate is set for a specific charge on
your bill or what rate applications are currently under review by the AUC,
please email info@auc.ab.ca.
Sharing rate concerns outside of rate hearings
The company responsible for issuing and managing your
utility bill, also called the retailer, should be your first point of contact
when you have concerns about the applicable rates and terms and conditions. If
you are dissatisfied with the response of your retailer, you may contact the UCA to
advocate on your behalf. Following that, you may wish to escalate your
complaint formally with the AUC when the issue cannot be resolved or where
there is a contravention
of rules or there is a compliance issue. The AUC assesses changes to rates
and terms and conditions of service through a rate proceeding that involves a
comprehensive review of how a utility’s rates are designed and where the
utility and customer representative groups can share their positions.
