Utility bills getting high.

[ZenOps]

Broke through $240 this month even only using 8GJ of natgas. Ridonkulous flat fees for everthing now, Carbon levy tax was $1.65 on that 8GJ.

[G-ZUS]

Originally posted by ZenOps
Broke through $240 this month even only using 8GJ of natgas. Ridonkulous flat fees for everthing now, Carbon levy tax was $1.65 on that 8GJ.

My bill was just over $500 bro

[That.Guy.S30]

And the NDP says everyone is adjusting to this tax... Yea we are.. we are adjusting to be broke.

[imranm]

Yup. My normal enmax bill is ~$350, cracked $525 last month - $6 in Carbon Tax!

[LilDrunkenSmurf]

Usual bill is ~$250, last month was $340.

[403ep3]

240
269
BOOM 315 (I was away for two weeks too)

:nut: :banghead: :banghead:

[chkolny541]

holy shit, these numbers are crazy. What size/type of house?

[jwslam]

I saw a similar thread on CP. Cringing for my next bill which should be next week.

[Vdubbin]

Ours jumped from $350ish a month to $550 this past month.

[G-ZUS]

Originally posted by chkolny541
holy shit, these numbers are crazy. What size/type of house?

~1100 sq/ft bungalow, Was paying ~370 before now just over $500

[Seth1968]

Canada's solution to our non-existent problem: Make the people pay more!

WTF :banghead:

[Brent.ff]

Ouch. compared to last year, i used 1 GJ more gas..cost me $30 more

[ercchry]

Imagine if we didn't have half a month of Chinooks last month?! :eek:

[Kloubek]

Last month: $179.

This month: $356.

Granted, I used more gas. Not THAT much more gas, of course.

[taemo]

Dec bill was 280, Jan bill was 290 but we don't get billed until mid month so I'm curious to see the next one.
Electricity is smaller now after going variable rate and changing all lights to LED.
Gas went up though due to the cold days.

I'm guess I'm in for a big surprise next bill :cry:

[That.Guy.S30]

Originally posted by chkolny541
holy shit, these numbers are crazy. What size/type of house?

Next they are gonna tell us we should've changed our living habits and buy super expensive energy efficient houses with solar panels on the roof and geothermal heaters for our hot water... :guns:

[killramos]

Enmax had some messed up billing through January so the bills are a bit more sticker shock than anything. I had 2 250's in a row ( well below average for me ) then a 400.

Called in and they said something about the city backdating some water billing or something and gas getting put on a separate bill. Supposedly it will resolve itself and that the bills were stacking with "unpaid" charges on them that aren't actually due yet.

Sorry that all made more sense when you actually look at the bills.

I don't even remember the CTax being a blip.

[suntan]

The water thing happened to me last July, they didn't bill me any water or sewer that month, the next I got hit with two months' worth.

[ercchry]

Originally posted by killramos
Enmax had some messed up billing through January so the bills are a bit more sticker shock than anything. I had 2 250's in a row ( well below average for me ) then a 400.

Called in and they said something about the city backdating some water billing or something and gas getting put on a separate bill. Supposedly it will resolve itself and that the bills were stacking with "unpaid" charges on them that aren't actually due yet.

Sorry that all made more sense when you actually look at the bills.

I don't even remember the CTax being a blip.

I was just about to say... my water and sewer was almost 25% of my last bill :nut:

But what is ridiculous is that my sewer is over 50% more expensive than the water! Why? Especially since a lot of water doesn't even make it down the drain, if this is the new norm then I think they need to start monitoring drains, cause over a year a lot of water is going towards lawns, evaporation from pools/ponds/hot tubs, drinking water.... :banghead:

[Nova316]

Went from $200 in Dec to $366 in Jan when last year roughly the same usage was only $224

[killramos]

Its just an accrual of cost, they use the same volume measurement for sewage and source. Makes sense that sewage treatment costs more than source imo. They could honestly roll it all into one cost for what it matters.

[adam c]

Enmax/City has done this to me 2 years in a row now, last year they didn't bill me for water in December 2015 then billed me for December 2015 water in January 2016 + the January water

This year, they didn't bill me for gas in December 2016 and billed me for December 2016 gas in January 2017 + the January gas

Take a look and see if they did the same to you

[ercchry]

Originally posted by killramos
Its just an accrual of cost, they use the same volume measurement for sewage and source. Makes sense that sewage treatment costs more than source imo. They could honestly roll it all into one cost for what it matters.

Just looked at a feb bill from 2015... sewer is up 30% while the rest is pretty flat

[Tik-Tok]

Originally posted by That.Guy.S30
And the NDP says everyone is adjusting to this tax... Yea we are.. we are adjusting to be broke.

You can't afford the $6 in Carbon Tax?

[Seth1968]

Originally posted by Tik-Tok


You can't afford the $6 in Carbon Tax?

The fact of the matter is the tax will do nothing for the environment, and we'll be paying more for just about everything.

[ercchry]

Originally posted by Tik-Tok


You can't afford the $6 in Carbon Tax?

It's kinda funny the up roar from this when you consider over half the bill you get goes to some sort of city fee or tax... and they keep cranking up the property taxes on top of that :nut:

[Tik-Tok]

Originally posted by Seth1968


The fact of the matter is the tax will do nothing for the environment, and we'll be paying more for just about everything.

Well that's obvious, but complaining about $6 on a $500 bill is kind of funny.

[That.Guy.S30]

Originally posted by Tik-Tok


You can't afford the $6 in Carbon Tax?

What if I couldn't afford it?

Btw I never mentioned how much my bill was or how much I paid.

[lilmira]

My bill is high too, ~350 compared to the normal mid to high 200s. We did have a cold spell around X'mas and I stayed home that week so the furnace was cranked up. I wasn't gonna let the windows sweat like waterfall.

[sputnik]

Originally posted by G-ZUS
~1100 sq/ft bungalow, Was paying ~370 before now just over $500

Seriously?

I have an 1100 sq ft bungalow built in the 1950s and my January bill (natural gas and electricity) in Winnipeg was just over $235.

Here is my usage and charges over the past two years. The prices include all delivery.

http://i.imgur.com/QV8288X.png

http://i.imgur.com/pbTTvMn.png

[Tik-Tok]

Originally posted by sputnik
[B]

Seriously?

I have an 1100 sq ft bungalow built in the 1950s and my January bill (natural gas and electricity) in Winnipeg was just over $235.

Here is my usage and charges over the past two years. The prices include all delivery.


$625 for me and my 1100sq.ft bungelow.... plus 800sq.ft heated garage (10*C).... and hot tub.... I'm comfortable paying for my comfort :rofl:

[sputnik]

Originally posted by Tik-Tok
plus 800sq.ft heated garage (10*C)

Electric or gas heat?

[Tik-Tok]

Originally posted by sputnik


Electric or gas heat?

Gas, cinder block, detached.

[LilDrunkenSmurf]

Mine was all gas usage. All my other utilities stayed flat, but my gas went from 8.6GJ to 17.2GJ. I know I stayed home more for the month, but that seems like an absurd amount.

2000sqft house.

[Seth1968]

Originally posted by Tik-Tok


Well that's obvious, but complaining about $6 on a $500 bill is kind of funny.

It's obviously not obvious to you, as you agree it's obvious*, then do a flip flop and claim the $6 fee is "funny".

No animosity here TT, I'm just surprised at your unusual response to That.Guy.

Is lady TT corrupting you? :)

* Too bad it's only obvious to those that know propaganda, critical thought, etc. It's also too bad that our educational system (government / corporate) abhors such things as critical thought.

[roopi]

Quite the jump when comparing this January to the past 2 years.

Jan 30, 2017 $ 608.81 Feb 24, 2017

2016
Bill Date Bill Amount Due Date
Dec 29, 2016 $ 491.47 Jan 23, 2017
Nov 29, 2016 $ 233.02 Dec 28, 2016 (Credit applied against this bill)
Oct 28, 2016 $ 431.87 Nov 22, 2016 (First bill with hot tub running again)
Sep 29, 2016 $ 325.62 Oct 24, 2016
Aug 30, 2016 $ 351.41 Sep 26, 2016
Jul 28, 2016 $ 297.27 Aug 22, 2016
Jun 29, 2016 $ 345.32 Jul 25, 2016
May 30, 2016 $ 355.64 Jun 24, 2016
Apr 28, 2016 $ 372.53 May 24, 2016
Mar 30, 2016 $ 388.42 Apr 25, 2016
Feb 26, 2016 $ 453.69 Mar 22, 2016
Jan 28, 2016 $ 482.03 Feb 22, 2016

2015
Bill Date Bill Amount Due Date
Dec 30, 2015 $ 400.46 Jan 25, 2016
Nov 27, 2015 $ 322.63 Dec 22, 2015
Oct 29, 2015 $ 288.16 Nov 23, 2015
Sep 29, 2015 $ 280.39 Oct 26, 2015
Aug 28, 2015 $ 342.49 Sep 22, 2015
Jul 30, 2015 $ 416.33 Aug 24, 2015 (First bill with A/C and Garage Heater installed)
Jun 29, 2015 $ 331.42 Jul 24, 2015
May 28, 2015 $ 259.86 Jun 22, 2015
Apr 29, 2015 $ 345.94 May 25, 2015
Mar 30, 2015 $ 391.19 Apr 24, 2015
Feb 26, 2015 $ 390.72 Mar 23, 2015
Jan 29, 2015 $ 440.53 Feb 23, 2015

[sr20s14zenki]

Im with direct energy for heat and electricity.

my carbon tax was 8$ on a 350$ bill . I used like 25 GJ tho, during the snap, etc.

Can somebody please explain this? Why am i paying gst on the carbon tax? A tax on a tax, doesnt that seem a bit stupid?

[Xtrema]

Originally posted by sr20s14zenki
Can somebody please explain this? Why am i paying gst on the carbon tax? A tax on a tax, doesnt that seem a bit stupid?

Until carbon tax becomes a Federal initiative, it is what it is.

[Maxt]

Originally posted by Tik-Tok


You can't afford the $6 in Carbon Tax?
How did you come up with $6? My bill had $18 of direct carbon tax on a 254.00 tab for natural gas. I havent gone through the rest of the charges yet to see if the carbon tax affected the riders or delivery charges, but my gas bill was $80 higher than Decembers bill. I burnt a shit ton more wood in January than December to try and offset it as well.

[Tik-Tok]

Originally posted by Maxt

How did you come up with $6?

Just going from this post. Haven't looked at my own because IDGAF. More taxes were inevitable, whether it was labelled "carbon" or PST, or some other bullshit.



Originally posted by imranm
Yup. My normal enmax bill is ~$350, cracked $525 last month - $6 in Carbon Tax!

[mr2mike]

Yep I hit a new all time record high since owning this house (5 years).
Beat out the high set two years ago in Jan. by +$50.

Changes from year over year. Added LED bulbs to most fixtures in house.
Re did weather stripping in home.
New roof (not that that makes any difference).

[OTown]

Even my current apartment bill went up to 95$ this month from the usual $60. I havent used excessive electricity and am on fixed rate. And I don't have nat gas. I wonder what gives?

[superflychief]

It's because enmax was giving out discounts last month to match Atco so now this month they're hitting everybody harder to make up for it

[TurboMedic]

Originally posted by superflychief
It's because enmax was giving out discounts last month to match Atco so now this month they're hitting everybody harder to make up for it

Exactly my thought.....One hand gives the other in your pocket taking away. Of course they don't want to lose on that stuff, so diddle the fees. They went to the City of Calgary school of accounting, and push numbers 2 different ways to get the outcome they want while trying to look like they're doing good.

[thetransporter]

Enmax slaps on "estimation" reads all the time even with two way meters, this like a interest free loan or just extra income for them if you do not complain.

[Prelude_dude]

wow some of your guys bills sound so high.

I am in a ~1500 sq ft house; my bill did go up a bit, but my overall charges are no where near as high as you guys. December was pretty cold so it justifies the increase in January.

*side note* I like that Enmax now just charges this all to my Visa.

2017
Bill Date Bill Amount Due Date
Jan 16, 2017 $ 299.45 Feb 10, 2017 View
2016
Bill Date Bill Amount Due Date
Dec 14, 2016 $ 248.59 Jan 09, 2017 View
Nov 15, 2016 $ 199.03 Dec 12, 2016 View
Oct 17, 2016 $ 225.37 Nov 14, 2016 View
Sep 16, 2016 $ 210.02 Oct 11, 2016 View
Aug 16, 2016 $ 91.75 Sep 12, 2016 View
Jul 15, 2016 $ 213.52 Aug 09, 2016 View
Jun 15, 2016 $ 232.61 Jul 11, 2016 View
May 16, 2016 $ 234.38 Jun 10, 2016 View
Apr 14, 2016 $ 234.51 May 09, 2016 View
Mar 15, 2016 $ 253.34 Apr 11, 2016 View
Feb 12, 2016 $ 335.49 Mar 08, 2016 View
Jan 15, 2016 $ 235.33 Feb 09, 2016 View

[dj_rice]

Jan 13, 2017 $ 247.90 Feb 07, 2017 View
2016
Bill Date Bill Amount Due Date
Dec 13, 2016 $ 106.86 Jan 09, 2017 View
Nov 14, 2016 $ 184.54 Dec 09, 2016 View
Oct 14, 2016 $ 119.68 Nov 08, 2016 View
Sep 15, 2016 $ 25.90 Oct 11, 2016 View
Aug 15, 2016 $ 125.75 Sep 09, 2016 View
Jul 14, 2016 $ 253.57 Aug 08, 2016 View
Jun 14, 2016 $ 124.20 Jul 11, 2016 View
May 12, 2016 $ 129.39 Jun 06, 2016 View
Apr 13, 2016 $ 164.70 May 09, 2016 View
Mar 14, 2016 $ 177.16 Apr 08, 2016 View
Feb 11, 2016 $ 209.46 Mar 07, 2016 View
Jan 14, 2016 $ 225.08 Feb 08, 2016 View


These are mine. 1500 sq foot 2 story house. Just me and my dog. My water and waste are with Epcor. Thermostat is set on 21 all day, all night.

[Euro838]

Sigh....anyone want to swap bills?


2017

Bill Date Bill Amount Due Date
Feb 04, 2017 $ 560.57 Mar 01, 2017 View
Jan 06, 2017 $ 480.49 Jan 31, 2017 View

2016

Bill Date Bill Amount Due Date
Dec 06, 2016 $ 426.58 Jan 03, 2017 View
Nov 04, 2016 $ 397.61 Nov 29, 2016 View
Oct 06, 2016 $ 397.55 Oct 31, 2016 View
Sep 07, 2016 $ 361.26 Oct 03, 2016 View
Aug 08, 2016 $ 398.87 Sep 02, 2016 View
Jul 07, 2016 $ 390.03 Aug 02, 2016 View
Jun 07, 2016 $ 392.38 Jul 04, 2016 View
May 05, 2016 $ 325.33 May 30, 2016 View
Apr 06, 2016 $ 414.74 May 02, 2016 View
Mar 04, 2016 $ 463.41 Mar 29, 2016 View
Feb 04, 2016 $ 563.58 Feb 29, 2016 View
Jan 07, 2016 $ 463.55 Feb 01, 2016 View

I have all my utilities with Enmax.

[Xtrema]

Originally posted by Euro838
Sigh....anyone want to swap bills?


2017

Bill Date Bill Amount Due Date
Feb 04, 2017 $ 560.57 Mar 01, 2017 View
Jan 06, 2017 $ 480.49 Jan 31, 2017 View

2016

Bill Date Bill Amount Due Date
Dec 06, 2016 $ 426.58 Jan 03, 2017 View
Nov 04, 2016 $ 397.61 Nov 29, 2016 View
Oct 06, 2016 $ 397.55 Oct 31, 2016 View
Sep 07, 2016 $ 361.26 Oct 03, 2016 View
Aug 08, 2016 $ 398.87 Sep 02, 2016 View
Jul 07, 2016 $ 390.03 Aug 02, 2016 View
Jun 07, 2016 $ 392.38 Jul 04, 2016 View
May 05, 2016 $ 325.33 May 30, 2016 View
Apr 06, 2016 $ 414.74 May 02, 2016 View
Mar 04, 2016 $ 463.41 Mar 29, 2016 View
Feb 04, 2016 $ 563.58 Feb 29, 2016 View
Jan 07, 2016 $ 463.55 Feb 01, 2016 View

I have all my utilities with Enmax.

Why are you bitching?

Feb 04, 2016 $ 563.58 Feb 29, 2016 View

Feb 04, 2017 $ 560.57 Mar 01, 2017 View

So even with carbon tax, you used less.

[nzwasp]

2017
Bill Date Bill Amount Due Date
Feb 07, 2017 $ 387.07 Mar 06, 2017 View
Jan 10, 2017 $ 406.92 Feb 06, 2017 View
2016
Bill Date Bill Amount Due Date
Dec 08, 2016 $ 325.29 Jan 03, 2017 View
Nov 08, 2016 $ 376.15 Dec 05, 2016 View
Oct 11, 2016 $ 288.54 Nov 07, 2016 View
Sep 12, 2016 $ 256.99 Oct 07, 2016 View
Aug 10, 2016 $ 246.80 Sep 06, 2016 View
Jul 11, 2016 $ 268.57 Aug 05, 2016 View
Jun 09, 2016 $ 288.28 Jul 04, 2016 View
May 09, 2016 $ 240.78 Jun 03, 2016 View
Apr 08, 2016 $ 272.31 May 03, 2016 View
Mar 08, 2016 $ 356.17 Apr 04, 2016 View
Feb 08, 2016 $ 406.11 Mar 04, 2016 View
Jan 11, 2016 $ 344.91 Feb 05, 2016 View

2000 SQ Foot 2 storey house built 2006 (no finished basement ) - 2 adults 2 kids although im only here two weeks of every month.
Keep house at 20 all the time. Wife used 16 GJ of gas last month! I think i paid about $17 in carbon tax last month.

[Prelude_dude]

Originally posted by Euro838
Sigh....anyone want to swap bills?


2017

Bill Date Bill Amount Due Date
Feb 04, 2017 $ 560.57 Mar 01, 2017 View
Jan 06, 2017 $ 480.49 Jan 31, 2017 View

2016

Bill Date Bill Amount Due Date
Dec 06, 2016 $ 426.58 Jan 03, 2017 View
Nov 04, 2016 $ 397.61 Nov 29, 2016 View
Oct 06, 2016 $ 397.55 Oct 31, 2016 View
Sep 07, 2016 $ 361.26 Oct 03, 2016 View
Aug 08, 2016 $ 398.87 Sep 02, 2016 View
Jul 07, 2016 $ 390.03 Aug 02, 2016 View
Jun 07, 2016 $ 392.38 Jul 04, 2016 View
May 05, 2016 $ 325.33 May 30, 2016 View
Apr 06, 2016 $ 414.74 May 02, 2016 View
Mar 04, 2016 $ 463.41 Mar 29, 2016 View
Feb 04, 2016 $ 563.58 Feb 29, 2016 View
Jan 07, 2016 $ 463.55 Feb 01, 2016 View

I have all my utilities with Enmax.

How big is your house and how many people?

By comparison, my house is only ~1500 sq feet (built in 2013), detached garage (unheated) unfinished basement and its just my wife, my four year old and me.

House is kept at 22 all day saturday and sunday, and on monday to friday its set on a schedule:
5pm - 8am - 22
8am-5pm - 18

[roopi]

Fee Increases from Enmax and we thought they were giving away money last month.

RATE AT Jan 1, 2017
COMPONENT TYPE UNIT PRICE
Distribution Charge for Distribution Access Service
Service and Facilities Charge per day $0.499470
System Usage Charge per kWh $0.010047
Transmission Charge for System Access Service
Variable Charge per kWh $0.019463
https://www.enmax.com/ForYourHomeSite/Documents/2017-01-01-DT-Rate-Schedule.pdf


RATE At Oct 1, 2016
COMPONENT TYPE UNIT PRICE
Distribution Charge for Distribution Access Service
Service and Facilities Charge per day $0.427587
System Usage Charge per kWh $0.008896
Transmission Charge for System Access Service
Variable Charge per kWh $0.019463
https://www.enmax.com/ForYourHomeSite/Documents/2016-10-01%20DT%20Rate%20Schedule.pdf

[89coupe]

Got my February bill today $498.94

[cancer man]

Originally posted by ZenOps
Broke through $240 this month even only using 8GJ of natgas. Ridonkulous flat fees for everthing now, Carbon levy tax was $1.65 on that 8GJ.

I have direct energy i used 20.93 GJ my bill was183.97
Including Carbon levy of 15.71.

your argument is invalid Dec 23 -Jan 24th.

[roopi]

There was an insert in the bill as well explaining some increases that were actually revised lower due to economic times.

For 2017:
Water: 0% (was going to be 2.0%)
Wastewater increase: 5.1% (was going to be 14.9%)
Drainage: 7.4% (was going to be 19.1%)

For 2018:
Water: 0% (was going to be 2.0%)
Wastewater increase: 4.9% (was going to be 14.2%)
Drainage: 7.4% (was going to be 19.1%)

The increases are to pay for the investments needed to expand the water treatment plant and upgrades to stormwater systems.

[RX_EVOLV]

Much higher January here as well.

My Dec bill was $295, and my Jan bill was $360 and I was on vacation 17 days of that month!!

[phreezee]

Jan 2017 - $521 ($16 carbon tax)

[benyl]

$35 carbon tax.

I get I should get R70 insulation in my home?

[Sonic]

Almost fell off my chair just now... This month I will owe about $450. 1963 square foot brand new house, efficient everything including all LED bulbs... But we keep it 22 degrees 24/7...

[suntan]

Originally posted by benyl
$35 carbon tax.

I get I should get R70 insulation in my home? Holy fuck you use almost double the amount of methane as me.

[bigbadboss101]

Gas
Energy Charge $95.83
Admin Charge $ 7.00
Transaction Fee $28.81
Atco Fix Charge $24.45
Atco Variable Charge $22.17
Rate Riders $33.62
Manicipal franchise fee $17.25
$229.13

[Xtrema]

Originally posted by bigbadboss101
Gas
Energy Charge $95.83
Admin Charge $ 7.00
Transaction Fee $28.81
Atco Fix Charge $24.45
Atco Variable Charge $22.17
Rate Riders $33.62
Manicipal franchise fee $17.25
$229.13

26-27GJ?

[suntan]

I love rate riders and the "municipal franchise fee". Christ almighty.

[Tik-Tok]

28GJ for January, and $30 carbon tax. So i gave up a case of beer for a wearing tshirts and shorts in my house and garage. The horror.

[Inzane]

Originally posted by Sonic
we keep it 22 degrees 24/7...

How the hell do you sleep at night? :eek:

I wouldn't be able to stand that.

[OTown]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/calgary-enmax-natural-gas-bills-increase-1.3980745


Next time you open your natural gas bill, get ready for potential sticker shock.

Alberta's new carbon levy is being tacked on for the very first time this month. But that's only a small portion of the charge, according to Enmax.

To help Albertans decipher those line items on an invoice, Enmax spokesperson Doris Kaufmann Woodcock appeared on The Calgary Eyeopener Monday.

Below is an abridged version of her conversation with host David Gray.

Q: So the January residential bills are starting to arrive. Can you give me a sense how much of an increase Calgarians are seeing?

A: We've certainly seen an increase in calls to our customer care lines from people who are concerned about what appear to be much higher bills. However, about 80 per cent of this increase can be directly attributed to the extended and extremely cold temperatures we've experienced this winter. In fact, back in December, some new electricity use records were set for the province. On top of that, what makes these increases stand out even more is we also had a very mild November, so people saw a sharp increase to their bills.

Q: To be clear, the increases are to natural gas, and not electricity?

A: Yes, but keep in mind, although your furnace burns natural gas to generate heat, it is run by electricity, so your costs are really impacted on both fronts. As for what accounts for the other 20 per cent, it includes things like a general increase in the cost of natural gas over the last few months, but most people are on a floating rate for their gas and these costs always fluctuate, so they'll go down as well. Also, the number of days on a bill can vary because of our meter reading cycles, which is because of a manual process. We can be impacted by things like weather and holidays. There's also a recent retroactively approved increase to the electricity admin charges by the Alberta Utilities Commission. But lastly, there is, of course, a brand new charge on people's bills — the carbon levy, which people have heard of.

hi-enmax-852
Enmax says retroactively approved increases to administrative charges also factor into increases seen by some customers. (CBC)

Q: How much of a difference is that making?

A: It's actually not as much as what most people think, but we are getting lots of questions from customers as they're really trying to wrap their heads around it. We're hearing things like, 'What does this mean for my bill? How much is it going to cost me every month? Should I try to reduce my consumption to counteract those costs?' But here are some basics on what this really means to residential customers. Firstly, the carbon levy is only being applied to your natural gas consumption, not electricity use. For now, this means that on top of the costs you pay for the gas itself, an additional $1.011 will be charged for every gigajoule of natural gas you use, and this is going to increase to $1.517 per gigajoule in 2018. Given that an average Alberta house uses about 120 gigajoules annually, most households can expect to pay an extra $120 in 2017, which makes up about three per cent of your bill. And this will rise to about $180 in 2018.

Q: So for your average home, you're talking about an extra $10 to $15 a month, is the carbon tax. Who gets a rebate on that?

A: We don't take care of administering that at all. It is a charge that is passed on to the Government of Alberta and they have set those parameters.

Q: Can you explain why both fixed and variable delivery charges have gone up?

A: For natural gas charges specifically, think of it as having three components on your bill. In the first, you're going to see the dollars charged per gigajoule for how much you actually used during the billing period. You're also going to see an administration charge, which is the cost related to Enmax's billing and customer service and a transaction fee. Then we get into the second component, which are the charges passed on to Enmax, or any retailer for that matter, by the default natural gas provider for your area. In Calgary, that's ATCO. They include the fixed charge, which is regulated by the Alberta Utilities Commission, and are literally the gas provider's cost to build and maintain the distribution system. This is a daily charge, so it goes by the number of days billed, but not your usage. The variable charge, on the other hand, which is their cost to operate the distribution system, is charged relative to your actual consumption of natural gas, so that's where you do see changes on those charges.

Q: It appears the fixed charge went up. How can it do that when it's a fixed charge?

A: It goes a little bit back to the number of days billed in a particular cycle. Again, we are impacted because it's a manual process to be reading meters, by things like weather and holiday schedules.

[03ozwhip]

well it happened to me too. 180-260

[Sonic]

Originally posted by Inzane


How the hell do you sleep at night? :eek:

I wouldn't be able to stand that.

Master bedroom is far from the furnace so it's not that hot lol plus I sleep in boxers and walk around house in shorts and no shirt, the wife is always cold and I hate wearing a shirt at home so it works out...I think it's time figure out how to work the programs though haha...dammit, the NDP is making me change my consumption habits...

[Prelude_dude]

Originally posted by Sonic
Almost fell off my chair just now... This month I will owe about $450. 1963 square foot brand new house, efficient everything including all LED bulbs... But we keep it 22 degrees 24/7...

How much was your previous months bills?

I don't think my last bill included the carbon tax yet; but i can't imagine mine going up by that much more.

Considering your house is about ~400 sqft bigger than my house and you leave your heat on 24/7; your bill sounds about right.

I used 15.420 GJ from Nov 22 to Dec 19.

[swak]

201.40 Gas/Elec in Jan.
First bill in new place, not too sure how pricy overall it is in the grand sceme of things 1400 sq/ft

[Gart]

In my lil 1959 bungalow:

Jan2016: $334
Jan2017: $402 (+~$20)

A tad higher energy usage in 2017, but comparable otherwise

Aside from my Dec9 to Jan10 $8 NDP tax, cost difference mainly attributed to the diff- in NatGas rate of 18GJ@$2.16/GJ(2016) to ~23GJ@$3.26/GJ(2017)

on Enmax floating rates
& my water consumption/sewer wasn't billed this month, so 2017 is missing another $20 or so, or whatever the cost is for 4-10 m3 now at 2017 rates.

[benyl]

Originally posted by suntan
Holy fuck you use almost double the amount of methane as me.

34.140 GJ

Sorry, it was $34 including GST. Love a tax on a tax.

[Cody D]

$650 was my Enmax, I think I kept the heat in the garage too high which definitely didn't help.

[BerserkerCatSplat]

Used a hair less gas (~1.5GJ) compared to last February, but paid a bit more overall, mainly due to higher floating rate. $378 vs. $348 total bill. An unwelcome hike, but not outrageous. 1400sqft 2-storey, NG heated detached garage.

[jwslam]

$11.05 in Carbon on 10.9GJ of Gas

How did my elec use go up from 270kwh to 421 with no changes to my habits... That's the highest I've seen since... last Feb when I was actually using space heaters.

[Toms-SC]

Could be worse boyz

http://i.imgur.com/Mmjq1Z9.png

[bigbadboss101]

Originally posted by Xtrema


26-27GJ?

Yup

[Prelude_dude]

Originally posted by Prelude_dude
wow some of your guys bills sound so high.

I am in a ~1500 sq ft house; my bill did go up a bit, but my overall charges are no where near as high as you guys. December was pretty cold so it justifies the increase in January.

*side note* I like that Enmax now just charges this all to my Visa.

2017
Bill Date Bill Amount Due Date
Jan 16, 2017 $ 299.45 Feb 10, 2017 View
2016
Bill Date Bill Amount Due Date
Dec 14, 2016 $ 248.59 Jan 09, 2017 View
Nov 15, 2016 $ 199.03 Dec 12, 2016 View
Oct 17, 2016 $ 225.37 Nov 14, 2016 View
Sep 16, 2016 $ 210.02 Oct 11, 2016 View
Aug 16, 2016 $ 91.75 Sep 12, 2016 View
Jul 15, 2016 $ 213.52 Aug 09, 2016 View
Jun 15, 2016 $ 232.61 Jul 11, 2016 View
May 16, 2016 $ 234.38 Jun 10, 2016 View
Apr 14, 2016 $ 234.51 May 09, 2016 View
Mar 15, 2016 $ 253.34 Apr 11, 2016 View
Feb 12, 2016 $ 335.49 Mar 08, 2016 View
Jan 15, 2016 $ 235.33 Feb 09, 2016 View

Just got my Jan bill. $321.43. Used 17GJs (2 more than last month) and $11.67 Carbon Levy. Not going to break the bank on my end.

[nickyh]

I paid 135.44 for Nov 21 - Dec 18 with Enmax; that went up to $163.08 for Dec19 - Jan19.
so an extra $27.64.

475kWh of electricity $60.30
9.0m3 of water$32.60
wastewster & drainage: $52.76
waste & recyling: $14.40


From Nov 28-Dec29, I used 18.42 GJ and the bill was $141.17
Dec29 - Jan31, 17.56GJ was used and the bill was $171.92, $30.75 higher and $16.50 of that was Carbon tax.

So combined about an extra $60 over last month.

[taemo]

got our bills too, not as painful as others.
Jan 2017 - 288$
Feb 2017 - 308.32$

Because of the newer rates and me playing PC games again electricity went up by 10$ :rofl:
Natgas also went up by 10$

[TurboMedic]

Took a look at mine now, my dec/jan was 227 for everything, my jan/feb is 300 for everything. Nat gas usage was actually down, $11 carbon tax, slightly higher electricity usage but I was using a small heater in my garage when it was super super cold to keep it a bit above freezing. Should add, 2500sqft, 2013 build...

[ExtraSlow]

Nov 22:$311
Dec 21: $327
Jan 4: $258
Jan 24: $449
Feb 21: $371

Huh, seems like an extra billing cycle in there. Oh well, Oils coming back boys. Carbon tax and double meat subs for all soon . . . . . :rofl: :burnout: :burnout: :drool: :bigpimp:

Agree with whomever above said that the most efficient methods of reducing consumption is to directly tax that consumption, and not the production. Hell, you wouldn't need all those fuel economy standards if you slapped a $1/L tax on the price of fuel. But I digress . . . .

[suntan]

Gas already has something like 60% taxes on it.

The problem is that gas demand is almost totally inelastic.

[ee2k]

$42.5 for my 1100sqft condo.

[Xtrema]

My Jan is horrible. Almost 1000kwh and 33GJ of gas. First $500+ bill since the insane gas run in 2007.

[jwslam]

Originally posted by Xtrema
My Jan is horrible. Almost 1000kwh and 33GJ of gas. First $500+ bill since the insane gas run in 2007.
You running a mini grow op?

[suntan]

Apparently Xtrema is a lizard person.

[ZenOps]

https://www.osler.com/en/resources/regulations/2016/alberta-s-carbon-tax-bill-20-the-em-climate-le

Natural gas additional carbon levy is supposed to be $1.011 per GJ this year and $1.517 per GJ next, or $20 and $30 per tonne respectively.

It does make me wonder if electricity will be getting closer to natgas. As is now, its typically assumed that electricity is 3x more expensive than natgas for heating.

Basic assumption: Electricity at 4 cents per KWH x 277 = $11.08 per GJ to heat with electricity.

But, electricity can be convective and does not require sucking in -20 Celsius air into a 80 to 96% efficient natgas furnace.If the majority of electric heat is placed low in a basement, then it has the entire structure to heat up before its lost through the roof.

I think I will give it a shot next year.

[Darell_n]

You are confused on natural gas heaters, but please do post your findings on running up your power bill.

[ZenOps]

I'm not sure how they calculate efficiencies of furnaces.

Electrical heat generation is basically 99.9% heat.

I'm pretty sure that the efficiency is different when sucking in air on a cold day as opposed to just bumping up on a warm day from say 15 to 20 Celsius. Not sure if its a difference worth noting though, but the high efficiency furnaces basically take a buttload of outside air for the combustion, and also a little bit of fresh outside air mixed with indoor air for circulating.

Electric heating takes no outdoor air, and just bumps from 19 to 20 Celsius most of the time.

I actually prefer electric heating, no whoosh of air every hour and banging of airducts.

There is no question that an electric car plugged in overnight is vastly more efficient that gasoline vehicle per dollar though. But its still a crapshoot that the battery won't fail at low temperatures.

[Darell_n]

Natural gas burns at 1950°C. The combustion air temp is irrelevant and the fresh air being mixed in keeps your home pressurized to stop cold drafts from coming in and from the house turning into a toxic wasteland.

[ZenOps]

I'm just poorly making an argument for electrical energy generation at power plants instead of natural gas heating at the home.

Since everyone is moving to LED lighting and super efficient microwave ovens, TV's and computers anyhow.

So, put up a couple extra coal/natural gas power plants push it out as electricity with the small line losses - and then have people switch back to electricity, preferably with some sort of heat pipe system under the house instead of forced air.

For Alberta, its just a matter of *where* the carbon is burned for power. Like China, they are moving the combustion as far away from populated areas as possible but still using the power off it. German banning the combustion engine does seem reasonable.

High efficiency natgas furnaces with exhausts at knee height (toddler height) do seem like an unnecessary hazard to me, but then again cars with exhausts at that height seems like an unnecessary health hazard to me as well.

[M.alex]

if everybody thinks utility bills are high now - when natural gas and electricity are at rock bottom lows - give it a few years and see what happens :rofl: :rofl:

[suntan]

Yup. Although I suspect fart gas will stay low probably until I'm dead.