Consumers to benefit from electricity system improvements

The Government of Alberta has issued a press release on improvements to the electric system and how the changes will serve consumers. The announcement makes public a report of the “Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) Retail Market Review Committee Implementation Team” in response to the work of the independent market review committee in 2012.

DEFG’s Nat Treadway was a member of the 4-person Retail Market Review Committee. The work of the RMRC was made public here. The RMRC report is available on the DEFG website.

Certain Retail Market Review Committee recommendations were acted upon immediately. The MLA report provides advice on how to implement other recommendations. Among the changes:

• Local Access Fees on customers’ bills are set and collected by municipalities
• The name of the “Regulated Rate Option” will be changed to reflect that it is a default rate reflecting market prices, not a government-set regulated rate
• Electricity and natural gas codes of conduct will be merged to remove duplicate and cumbersome processes for companies that offer both natural gas and electricity
• In an effort to establish a more level playing field for all retailers, advertising material can no longer be inserted in the billing envelopes of customers who are on the default rate