In Alberta's restructured electricity industry, there are two companies involved in providing your electricity service:
- Your Retailer
- Your Wires Owner
Your Energy Retailer's Role
Your Energy Retailer purchases the electricity on your behalf, provides customer service, and produces your bill. The charges associated with providing these services are found on your bill under Electric Energy Charges:
As your Energy Retailer, EPCOR also bills energy delivery charges on behalf of your Wires Owner (WO), FortisAlberta or EPCOR Distribution & Transmission Inc. (EDTI).
What is a Regulated Rate Option Provider (RRO)?
RRO Providers are responsible for buying electric energy and supplying it to customers who have not entered into an electrical energy competitive contract with a Retailer. RRO Providers can be either the WO or another company that has contracted with the WO to provide RRO services.
RRO Providers perform billing and customer service functions for their RRO customers. Bills prepared by RRO Providers include expenses associated with acquiring energy and providing customer service and the separate distribution rates and charges approved by the WOs.
RRO Providers are also regulated. RRO Providers must submit their rates and their terms and conditions of service to the appropriate regulator for approval.
The RRO is available to residential, farm and irrigation customers and to business/commercial customers with annual electric energy consumption of less than 250,000 kWh per year.
What are Competitive Retailers?
Since January 1, 2001, Retailers have been able to offer competitive contracts to customers for electric energy and other energy services. While Retailers are licensed by Alberta Government Services and must adhere to the provisions of the Fair Trading Act and other applicable legislation, the rates and terms and conditions of their contracts for electric energy are not approved by a regulator. Retailers may also offer other energy products (e.g. Natural Gas) to customers. Competitive Retailers typically offer fixed price, fixed term contracts that provide customers with rate stability over the term of their contract.
Retailers and RRO Providers do not maintain the local electric energy distribution (or "wires") system and must refer consumer inquiries regarding wires issues to the WO (discussed above). However, similar to RRO Providers, Retailers are responsible for billing customers for both electric energy consumption and distribution charges from your WO.