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Home > Energy Pricing Information for Canadian Consumers > Electricity - Current Market Conditions January-March 2012

Electricity - Current Market Conditions January-March 2012

In the fourth quarter of 2011, the Alberta on-peak power price averaged about $130 per megawatt-hour (MW.h), with December as an partial estimate. Outages of coal-fired units were the primary reason for the high prices. As of December, the futures prices for on-peak power in Alberta are averaging over $135/MW.h for the January to March period, about three times actual average price over the same period two years ago.

The Ontario wholesale market price is expected to remain lower than Alberta’s over the fourth quarter of 2011. Compared to Alberta, Ontario is more interconnected with other provinces and neighbouring American markets, and thus its prices are affected more by other markets. The greater capacity to trade also dampens the price effect of outages within the market. The eastern markets are settling at levels consisting with last year. Ontario’s price over in November was $32/MW.h, with the Global Adjustment adding about $43/MW.h. The Global Adjustment accounts for payments made to contracted and regulated generators; the adjustment is greater for months when the wholesale price is relatively low, and can be negative if the wholesale price is quite high.

Figure 1: Wholesale Electricity Prices in Alberta (AESO) and Ontario (IESO)

Price pressures in the wholesale market are usually not immediately passed on to consumers. Consumer prices need to go through a review process in all provinces and be approved by each province’s respective regulatory authority (e.g., provincial energy board or public utility board). See FAQs for more information on pricing.

Consumer prices or "rates" vary for several reasons:

• variation in generation costs; prices in hydro-based provinces tend to be lower (e.g., British Columbia, Manitoba and Québec);
• customer class (e.g., residential, commercial, industrial); residential rates tend to be higher than commercial and industrial rates;
• amount of energy consumed in a given period (e.g., rates may vary based on customer consumption);
• time-of-use pricing (e.g., some consumers have access to time-of-use meters that show lower charges for electricity during off-peak periods); and
• capability to switch to lower cost fuels (e.g., industrial customers).

Information on specific rates is available from local distribution companies or provincial utilities In most provinces the electrcity bill is composed of a fixed or “basic” charge (including transmission, distribution and miscellaneous billing and metering charges) and an energy charge, which varies with the amount of power consumed (mainly generation costs). The total power bill is the sum of these two costs. A tabular summary follows. See the Helpful Links section on our Web site for more information.

Current or Applied-for Residential Electricity Rates* (December 2011)

British Columbia

BC Hydro
Basic Charge Per Day	14.48¢
Energy Charge (cents/kW.h) kW.h ≤ 1350 bi-monthly kW.h > 1350 bi-monthly	6.27 8.78

Alberta

Regulated Rate Option - RRO
Energy Charge (cents/kW.h)	13.4
*The rates shown for the restructured markets in Alberta and Ontario include only energy charges; other charges such as transmission and distribution costs are not shown for these provinces. These costs are typically included in the “basic charge” for vertically integrated utilities.

Saskatchewan

SaskPower, Saskatoon Light & Power
	City, Town, Village, Urban Resort	Rural, Rural Resort	Saskatoon
Basic Charge Per Month	$19.28	$27.83	$21.21
Energy Charge (cents/kW.h)	10.61	10.84	11.67

Manitoba

Manitoba Hydro
Basic Charge Per Month	≤ 200 amps $6.85	> 200 amps $13.70
Energy Charge (cents/kW.h)	6.62

Ontario

Regulated Price Plan
	Energy Charge (cents/kW.h)
Two-tiered option Winter Season (1 November to 30 April)	kW.h ≤ 1000 monthly kW.h > 1000 monthly	7.1 8.3
Summer season (1 May to 31 October)	kW.h ≤ 600 monthly kW.h > 600 monthly	7.1 8.3
Time-of-use (TOU) consumers	On-Peak Mid-Peak Off-Peak	10.8 9.2 6.2
*The rates shown for the restructured markets in Alberta and Ontario include only energy charges; other charges such as transmission and distribution costs are not shown for these provinces. These costs are typically included in the “basic charge” for vertically integrated utilities.

Quebec

Hydro Quebec
Basic Charge Per Day	40.64¢
Power above 50 kW	Winter $6.21/kW	Summer $1.26/kW
Energy Charge (cents/kW.h) kW.h ≤ 30 daily kW.h > 30 daily	5.39 7.51

New Brunswick

Énergie NB Power
Basic Charge Per Month	Urban $19.73	Rural/Seasonal $21.63
Energy Charge (cents/kW.h)	9.85

Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia Power
Basic Charge Per Month	$10.83
Fuel Adjustment Mechanism	$0.276
Demand Side Management Cost Recovery	$0.466
Energy Charge (cents/kW.h)	12.638

Prince Edward Island

Maritime Electric
Basic Charge Per Month	Urban $24.57	Rural $26.92
Energy Charge (cents/kW.h) kW.h ≤ 2000 monthly kW.h > 2000 monthly	12.05 9.2

Newfoundland and Labrador

Newfoundland Power, Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro
Basic Charge Per Month	$15.71
	Domestic Service Plan	Optional Domestic Seasonal Plan
Energy Charge (cents/kW.h)	10.407	Winter (December through April) 10.407 + 0.953	Summer (May through November) 10.407 - 1.297

Nunavut

Qulliq Energy Corporation
Energy Charge (cents/kW.h)	Lowest rate (Iqaluit) 52.39	Highest rate (Kugaaruk) 102.71

Northwest Territories

Northwest Territories Power Corporation
	Energy Charge (cents/kW.h)
Yellowknife	22.08
Outside Yellowknife
September-March	kW.h ≤ 1000 monthly kW.h > 1000 monthly	lowest rate highest rate	22.08 16.36 47.39
April-August	kW.h ≤ 600 monthly kW.h > 600 monthly	lowest rate highest rate	22.08 16.36 47.39

Yukon

Yukon Electrical
Basic Charge Per Month	$14.65
Energy Charge (cents/kW.h) kW.h ≤ 1000 monthly	12.14
1001 ≤≥ 2500	12.82
> 2500 kW.h	Other than Old Crow 13.99	Old Crow 30.77

For further electricity pricing data and information, please see our Helpful Links. The following sections are also available: How Canadian Markets Work, Canadian Industry and FAQs.

 

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Date Modified:

2012-01-05