The AUC does not receive any government funding. The AUC’s operations are 100 per cent funded by Alberta industry participants and ratepayers through an administration fee on Alberta’s utilities and the independent system operator.

With a keen focus on continuously lowering the cost of regulation for ratepayers, the AUC tracks and benchmarks its administration fee as a unit measure per customer utility site. Since its inception in 2008, the AUC’s cost of regulation has declined to $8.59 per regulated site (a 34.6 per cent reduction). In the same timeframe, the number of regulated sites in Alberta has risen 31 per cent to approximately 3.2 million sites.

 

A regulatory cost decrease of 35​ per cent in the cost-per-site since 2008

Administration fees are determined in two portions for the AUC’s fiscal year, which is from April 1 to March 31. The first determination occurs in April and represents 75 percent of the AUC’s estimated expenditures. The second determination represents the remaining three months of the AUC’s fiscal year and occurs in December.