It seems that everyone is opening up their gas bill this month and having to take a double-take on the amount owing.   

A Wheatland County resident has is having trouble realizing why the fees on her bill are so high. “Based on my last bill, which was $900 for both for a farm, which isn't terrible, considering there's two houses and shops and we plug big trucks in. I just shake my head when the bill comes in because I don’t understand how the fees to distribute could actually be more than the product.”  

According to the Utilities Commission (AUC), they have heard from many, many Albertans who are voicing their concerns about the dollar amounts they are seeing. 

Riley Georgsen, Director of Communications and External Affairs with Alberta Utilities Commission said that there are several factors that have played a part in the higher costs. 

"One of the biggest things that goes into bill [costs being higher] is, of course, the consumption of electricity and natural gas, especially during times when we have prolonged cold snaps, and consumption generally increases during that period," he said. "We did see between December and January, record consumption in the province of Alberta during the recent cold snap." 

When asked if the current rates in the AUC's view are reasonable, Georgsen said that they were.   

“There's a couple of things to think about when we are looking at the bills and considering the impacts. The first is the commodity prices associated with electricity and natural gas," Georgsen noted. "We did see that these prices did increase during the record demand period. Alberta did set a new record for consumption in this latest cold snap and that does require that we do see commodity prices impacted to meet that demand. And they did fluctuate at that period." 

Georgsen explained the reason that transmission rates may be higher is because of a combination of fixed and variable prices. 

"[Those prices] are based on the amount of commodity or the amount of consumption that is used and so we can see, price increases when consumption goes up for distribution and transmission rates as well," he said.