EPCOR provides default supply rates to electricity customers in Edmonton and throughout Alberta in communities who receive distribution service from FortisAlberta.
Commercial and industrial customers who consume more than 250,000 kWh a year and who had not chosen a competitive offer, were automatically enrolled on default supply rates starting January 1, 2001.
The government announced on January 18, 2001, that all customers on a default supply rate must pay a flow-through price for their electricity that is based on the Pool Price. The pool price, which varies from hour to hour throughout the year, depending on weather, time of day and demand for electricity, represents the market price for electricity. The following graph illustrates the changes in the Pool Price since January 2006.

EPCOR's default supply energy prices reflect the forecast pool price, distribution system losses, load shape impacts, and the costs of managing energy purchases as well as retail costs associated with customer service and billing.
2012 Forecast Default Prices in cents per kWh
The table below provides EPCOR’s estimated default supply pricing for the next month for our various categories of customers. Default rates vary by the size of customer, by metering information available on consumption of electricity, and by the wire service provider in the territory where the customer resides. Customers will be billed based on the actual pool price.
Month: February
|
Edmonton < 150 kW |
Edmonton > 150 kW |
Edmonton > 5,000 kW |
Fortis Alberta < 150 kW |
Fortis Alberta > 150 kW |
Fortis Alberta TOU > 150 kW |
Fortis Alberta > 5,000 kW |
| Charges: |
| Forecast Pool Price (for flat load) |
7.60 |
7.60 |
7.60 |
7.60 |
7.60 |
7.60 |
7.60 |
| Forecast Load Shape Impact |
0.50 |
0.47 |
- |
0.34 |
0.34 |
0.15 |
- |
| Distribution Losses |
0.32 |
0.32 |
0.23 |
0.51 |
0.51 |
0.50 |
0.25 |
| Pool Trading Charges |
0.0361 |
0.0361 |
0.0361 |
0.0361 |
0.0361 |
0.0361 |
0.0361 |
| Retail Charge (Administration Charge) |
1.39 |
1.39 |
0.66 |
1.39 |
1.16 |
1.16 |
0.66 |
| Total Estimated Energy Charge: |
9.85 |
9.82 |
8.52 |
9.88 |
9.65 |
9.44 |
8.55 |
Wholesale costs consist of the pool price, distribution losses, load shape impacts, pool uplift charges and pool trading charges. Wholesale costs differ by rate class due to different load shapes and distribution losses.
Load shape impact reflects the fact that pool prices based on actual customer load profiles (shapes) are higher than the mathematical average pool prices which assumes a flat profile.
The customer bill will also include regulated charges from the wire service provider for distribution, transmission and franchise fees, which are not shown above. These charges will vary based on the different wires service providers and franchise territories.