The part you can shop and the part you cannot
Your bill has a part you can shop and a part you cannot. The energy price is the part you can shop. Delivery, local fees and riders are the part you cannot, and every home on your distributor pays them.
A small home uses little energy, so the energy price is a small part of its bill. The charges that do not depend on use are then a large share. Switching plans does not change those charges.
See what a typical small and a typical larger home pay each month in your city on our typical Alberta bills page.
What you can shop and what you cannot
- You can shop: the energy price per kWh or per GJ, and any retailer fee in your agreement.
- You cannot shop: the daily delivery charge, the per-use delivery and transmission charges, your town’s local fee and the riders.
Some of the charges you cannot shop are daily, so they are the same at low use. Others are billed per kWh or per GJ, so they fall when you use less.
The checked rates behind the worked home
For electricity, take a home in Edmonton on the default rate. The default energy rate is 12.01¢ per kWh (1 January 2025 to 31 December 2026) [source]. The daily delivery charge is C$0.72856 per day (from 1 January 2026) [source]. Delivery is 1.783¢ per kWh (from 1 January 2026) [source]. Transmission is 4.050¢ per kWh (from 1 January 2026) [source]. The Edmonton local access fee is 1.388¢ per kWh (from 1 January 2026) [source]. The riders are 0.130¢ per kWh (1 January 2026 to 31 December 2026) [source], -0.016¢ per kWh (1 January 2026 to 31 December 2026) [source] and 0.103¢ per kWh (from 1 October 2026) [source].
For gas, take a home on ATCO Gas North with the default gas price. The default price for October is C$1.458 per GJ (1 October 2026 to 31 October 2026) [source]. The daily delivery charge is C$0.997 per day (from 1 January 2026) [source]. Variable delivery is C$1.049 per GJ (from 1 January 2026) [source]. Rider T transmission is C$1.357 per GJ (from 1 January 2026) [source].
A small home, month by month
For illustration
These amounts are estimates, worked from the read rates above for 30 days. They are rounded to the dollar, the last row adds the two rows above it, and they leave out retailer fees, the gas franchise fee and GST. A small home here means about 250 kWh and 3 GJ a month.
| Part of the bill | Electricity, 250 kWh | Gas, 3 GJ |
|---|---|---|
| Energy price, which you can shop | About C$30 | About C$4 |
| Daily delivery, the same at low use | About C$22 | About C$30 |
| Charges per kWh or GJ, local fee and riders | About C$19 | About C$7 |
| All the charges you cannot shop | About C$41 | About C$37 |
For electricity, the charges you cannot shop are more than half of these amounts. For gas, they are about nine-tenths.
A bill for the same home in a cold month looks different. Gas use rises, so the per-GJ lines grow. The daily charge stays the same.
What switching can and cannot do
Switching plans can change the energy price and any retailer fee. It does not change delivery, the local fee or the riders. A plan with a lower energy price still carries the same delivery charges.
To see what is yours to change, read your bill line by line or the gas version. If the total still looks wrong, use the high-bill checks.
BillRobin is an Alberta service. We compare every plan we can confirm for your home, show them in order of estimated cost, and you decide. We never switch your plan, never phone you and never ask for banking details.
Send us your gas and electricity bills as PDFs. No PDF? Screenshots or a photo work too. We compare the plans at your address, free during our launch period.
Questions people ask
Why is my bill high when I hardly use any power or gas?
Part of your bill does not depend on use. The distributor charges a daily amount to keep you connected. Local fees and riders add to it.
Can I switch plans to avoid the fixed charges?
No. Fixed delivery charges are set for your distributor and apply to every home in the area. A new plan can change only the energy price and any retailer fee.
What can I change in a small home?
You can compare the energy price and the retailer fee. You can also check the billed days and meter readings on each bill.
Does using less power or gas remove the fixed charge?
No. The daily charge stays the same at low use. Less use lowers only the charges that are billed per kWh or per GJ.
Sources
Written by the BillRobin team. Updated .
Show the 12 sources
- Alberta Utilities Commission: AUC Disposition 31032-D01-2026 (September 11, 2026), Appendix 1 - EPCOR Distribution & Transmission Inc. Rider K, Transmission Charge Deferral Account True-Up Rider (Short-Term Adjustment, effective October 1, 2026)
- AUC: Current gas costs
- Alberta Utilities Commission: EPCOR Distribution & Transmission Inc., 2026 Annual Performance-Based Regulation Rate Adjustment, Appendix 4 - 2026 Interim system access service rates (DT - Schedule A, effective January 1, 2026)
- Alberta Utilities Commission: EPCOR Distribution & Transmission Inc., Appendix 10 - Rider J, SAS True-Up Rider (Interim Adjustment, effective January 1, 2026)
- Alberta Utilities Commission: EPCOR Distribution & Transmission Inc., Appendix 9 - 2026 Balancing Pool Rider G (Temporary Adjustment, effective January 1, 2026)
- ATCO Gas North Rate Schedules, effective August 1, 2026
- ATCO Gas North: rate schedule
- EPCOR Distribution & Transmission Inc., Schedule - Franchise Fee Rates (Local Access Fee), effective January 1, 2026
- EPCOR: Rate of Last Resort
- EPCOR: Rate of Last Resort
- EPCOR Distribution & Transmission: rate schedule (AUC)
- UCA: Understanding utility bills
https://billrobin.com/ca/en/alberta/energy/fixed-charges-explained?utm_medium=share&utm_source=page
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