What percentage of an Alberta business electricity bill is delivery charges?

Delivery charges, also called distribution and transmission or D&T charges, typically make up 40 to 60 per cent of an Alberta business electricity bill, often more than the energy itself.

Can delivery charges be reviewed while under contract with another retailer?

Yes. Delivery charges are set by the regulated wires company, not your retailer, so the review is completely independent of your energy supply agreement and can be done at any time.

What is a demand charge on an Alberta commercial bill?

A charge based on the highest rate of power draw recorded during the billing period, measured in kW or kVA. It reflects the system capacity reserved for your site rather than the energy you consumed, which is why two businesses using the same annual kWh can pay very different delivery charges.

Why do delivery charges keep rising in Alberta?

They fund building, operating and maintaining transmission and distribution infrastructure. As that system is upgraded and expanded, the approved cost recovered through delivery charges has risen, making the delivery half of the bill a larger share over time.

Distribution and Transmission Charges on an Alberta Business Bill (2026)

Q: Are distribution and transmission charges negotiable in Alberta?

The rates themselves are approved by the Alberta Utilities Commission and are not negotiable. What can be reviewed and corrected is your site's rate classification, the billing demand your charges are based on, the riders applied and your metering arrangement.

Distribution and transmission charges — the delivery half of an Alberta utility
bill — typically make up 40 to 60 per cent of a business electricity bill. They are regulated
and approved by the Alberta Utilities Commission, so the rates themselves are not negotiable. What
is very much open to review is whether your site is on the right rate class, whether your billing
demand reflects how you actually operate, and whether the riders and metering applied to your
account still match your business. Those are the things a delivery charge review checks.

Last updated September 12, 2026.

What these charges actually are

Delivery charges pay for the physical system that brings energy to your door: the transmission
network that moves power across the province and the distribution system that brings it down your
street. Your wires company owns and maintains that infrastructure. It is a regulated monopoly in
your area, its rates are approved by the AUC, and it does not change no matter which retailer you
buy energy from.

On your bill they appear under headings like Delivery, Distribution and Transmission, or D&T.
A commercial electricity bill usually breaks them out into:

Fixed or service charges — a daily amount for being connected.
Distribution demand — charged on your highest metered demand in the
period, measured in kW or kVA, not on the energy you consumed.
Transmission charges — the province-wide system cost, also heavily
demand-driven for larger sites.
Riders — adjustments that true up prior-period costs.
Local access or franchise fees — collected on behalf of your
municipality.

The key distinction for a business: the energy half of your
bill is driven by how much you use. The delivery half is largely driven by how hard you use it
at your peak. Two businesses with identical annual consumption can pay very different delivery
charges.

Regulated does not mean optimised

Because the AUC approves these rates, most business owners assume there is nothing to look at.
The rates are fixed — but how your site is classified against them is not always right. The
things worth checking:

What we check	Why it matters
Rate classification	Wires companies have several commercial and industrial rate classes with different thresholds. A site classified years ago on the basis of the previous occupant’s load can sit in the wrong one indefinitely.
Billing demand and ratchets	Some rate classes set your billing demand from a peak that can be months old. A one-off peak — a test, a heat wave, a piece of equipment started badly — can follow you for a year.
Metering set-up	Whether the meter and its multiplier match the service, and whether multiple meters on one property should be combined or separated.
Power factor	Motor-heavy sites draw more kVA than the kW they actually use. Where billing is on kVA, correcting power factor lowers the charge directly.
Riders and fees applied	That the riders on the account are the ones that belong to your class, and that the municipal fee matches your location.
Inactive or seasonal sites	Sites that are seasonal, vacant or partly decommissioned often keep paying a demand profile they no longer have.

Why this is the best place to start

A delivery charge review has nothing to do with who supplies your energy. If your business is
two years into a three-year contract with another retailer, nobody can change your rate — but
this half of the bill is still in play. It is the one part of a business energy cost that can be
worked on immediately, from a standing start, with no switch and no contract break.

What we do with what we find

We request and review your delivery data with your authorisation.
We check the classification, demand history, riders and metering against the tariff that
applies to your wires company.
If there is something to correct, we quantify it and show you the calculation.
With your approval, we work the correction through with your service provider and confirm it
lands on your bill.

If your delivery charges are already set up correctly, you get that confirmed in writing, which
is worth having. Not every site has something to find.

Book a free Energy Cost Audit

Send us one recent electricity bill and one natural gas bill. We review both halves — the
energy you buy and the delivery charges you are billed to receive it — and come back with a
written summary of what we found and what, if anything, is worth changing. No cost, no obligation,
and no requirement to switch anything.

Upload your bills — free Energy Cost Audit

Prefer email? Send your bills to
info@getenergy.ca, or call
(780) 665-4771, Monday to Friday 9 AM–5 PM.

Common questions

Are distribution and transmission charges negotiable in Alberta?

The rates are not — they are approved by the Alberta Utilities Commission and apply to
everyone in a rate class. What can change is which class your site belongs in, what your billing
demand is based on, and which riders and metering arrangements apply to you.

Can I review delivery charges while under contract with another retailer?

Yes. Delivery charges are set by your wires company, not your retailer, so a review is
independent of your supply agreement.

What percentage of my bill is delivery?

For most Alberta businesses, 40 to 60 per cent of the electricity bill. The proportion tends to
be higher for sites with modest consumption but high peak demand.

What is a demand charge?

A charge based on the highest rate of power draw recorded in the billing period, measured in kW
or kVA. It reflects the capacity the system has to hold available for you, whether or not you use
it the rest of the month.

How long does a correction take to show up?

It depends on the wires company and the type of change. Some appear on the next bill; structural
reclassifications take longer. We tell you what to expect before you approve anything.

More for Alberta businesses

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Get Energy is an Alberta competitive retailer and energy broker serving
residential, small business, farm and commercial consumers. Get Energy is a tradename of Utility
Network & Partners Inc.