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News Releases : "Electricity rates to be calculated monthly for small business."

08/29/03-“Electricity rates to be calculated monthly for small business.”-For Immediate Release

EDMONTON, September 29, 2003 - An Alberta Energy news release appears as follows:

September 2003

Electricity rates to be calculated monthly for small business

Small/medium businesses now on regulated electricity service can be confident they will receive electricity from their present supplier under a government-defined rate structure when their electricity rates (¢/kWh) begin to change monthly starting January 1, 2004. The current Regulated Rate Option (RRO), which sees rates set for months in advance, ends December 31, 2003, as scheduled. 

With per kilowatt-hour charges more closely tied to real-time market prices, monthly flow-through rates will greatly reduce the likelihood of future rate riders, traditionally used to adjust consumer bills for variances between approved rates based on forecasts and actual utility costs. The new monthly flow-through rate structure was included in the latest version of the Electric Utilities Act (2003), which came into effect in June of this year.

ATCO Electric is already billing its electricity customers at flow-through market rates, which change monthly. Starting January 1, 2004, the remaining providers of regulated electricity service will charge their small/medium commercial customers at monthly flow-through rates.

Flow through rates for regulated electricity supply to small/medium commercial consumers is similar to how Albertans on regulated natural gas service are billed now. Each month, the price of natural gas changes to reflect the market value.

A growing number of licensed retailers are offering competitive energy contracts to Alberta’s commercial consumers. Along with other consumer information, a list of licensed retailers is available at <www.customerchoice.gov.ab.ca>. 

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