Effective January 1, 2019, the AUC can levy fines and issue public notices when electricity or natural gas service providers contravene AUC rules on utility billing, complaint response and other areas. The AUC considers and weighs the circumstances of each situation.
The AUC can address pre-defined rule contraventions through a series of set fines called specified penalties. These are financial penalties or fines that are applied when the AUC concludes contraventions have occurred and a penalty is required. They are comparable to speeding tickets, or parking tickets. These financial penalties increase as the frequency of the contraventions increase. No lengthy proceeding is required. The AUC can issue specified penalties escalating from $500 per incident, per day.
Incorrect customer bills
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Referral to credit agency in error
*Also triggers AUC Rule 003 service guarantee credit |
Unexpected customer bills
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Disconnection in error
*Also triggers AUC Rule 003 service guarantee credit |
Late customer bills
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System code errors
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*Service guarantee requires a credit of $150 to customers erroneously disconnected or referred to a credit agency.
The AUC has a range of enforcement tools. Completely separate from specified penalties, the AUC can also issue, after a formal, evidence-based proceeding, administrative penalties that can range up to $1 million per incident per day.
The largest such penalty imposed was $52 million. The AUC specified penalties rule
The AUC set out how specified penalties will be applied in its
AUC Rule 032:
Specified Penalties for Contravention of AUC Rules. This rule includes factors the AUC will consider when determining specified penalties that include self-reporting by energy service providers. AUC Rule 032 also includes a penalties table outlining the dollar amount charged to energy service providers for each penalty.
The AUC was given the power to levy specified penalties for contraventions of its rules, orders and decisions through
Bill 13, An Act to Secure Alberta's Energy Future. It intends to develop and apply specified penalties for many areas of its regulatory oversight. On July 19, 2019, The AUC issued Bulletin 2019-12 announcing an updated evaluation process for the assessment of specified penalties for self-reported contraventions. See Bulletin 2019-12 for more information.
Priority 1: Billing errors subject to specified penalties
Because of the importance of billing to consumers, the AUC started with setting penalties for contraventions of AUC requirements related to billing-related and customer-care matters. These requirements are set out in
AUC Rule 003:
Service Standards for Energy Service Providers
. These service providers provide electricity and natural gas in Alberta.
AUC Rule 003 service guarantee
Along with specified penalties, all Alberta energy service providers are subject to a service guarantee that requires them to provide a credit of $150 to customers that are erroneously disconnected or referred to a credit agency. This includes retailers, rural electrification associations and municipally owned utilities. Service providers regulated by the AUC must include this information in their terms and conditions.
Technical requirements subject to specified penalties
The AUC sets out technical requirements for utility providers for enrolling and de-enrolling a customer and requirements on transmitting updated information to and from distributors. There are contained in
AUC Rule 021:
Settlement System Code Rules
for electric service providers, and
Rule 028:
Natural Gas Settlement System Code Rules
for natural gas service providers.
Contraventions of these requirements are also subject to specified penalties, based on the same frequency and penalty schedule shown above. Further application of specified penalties is underway or planned.
Think a contravention has occurred?
If you believe your utility provider may have contravened an AUC rule on billing or other matters covered by a specified penalty: - You should first contact the energy service provider that issued your bill.
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If the response isn't satisfactory, please contact the
Utilities Consumer Advocate (UCA). The UCA is specifically mandated to provide assistance to Alberta ratepayers to resolve issues with utility providers.
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If you feel the UCA cannot provide or hasn't provided an adequate outcome, please
contact the AUC.
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