Is the Rate of Last Resort the same as the regulated rate?

No. The Regulated Rate Option was Alberta's earlier default and has been replaced. The current default for consumers without a contract is the Rate of Last Resort.

How do I know if my business is on the Rate of Last Resort?

Check the energy portion of your bill for a competitive retailer's name. If the supplier shown is your wires company, or the line refers to the Rate of Last Resort, the site has no contract in place.

What is the Rate of Last Resort for an Alberta business?

Q: What is the Rate of Last Resort for an Alberta business?

It is the default electricity rate applied to a site that has no contract with a competitive retailer. It ensures continuous supply and is set through a regulated process, but it is priced to absorb market risk rather than to compete.

Short answer: The Rate of Last Resort is the default electricity rate a site falls onto when it has no contract with a competitive retailer. It is a legitimate fallback, not a penalty, but it is priced to cover risk rather than to be competitive — and many Alberta businesses sit on it for years without realising.

Last updated September 12, 2026.

How businesses end up on it

A new location opens and power is simply turned on, with no retailer chosen.
A contract ends and nobody notices the renewal date.
A business changes hands and the energy account is never revisited.
Someone assumed the utility is the retailer. In Alberta it usually is not.

Regulated default, competitive market

Alberta’s electricity market is deregulated for everyone, businesses included. The Rate of Last
Resort exists so no site is ever without power, and it is set through a regulated process —
but a default designed to absorb market risk is rarely the cheapest option available to a site that
actually shops.

Terminology matters here: Alberta’s default is called the
Rate of Last Resort. Calling it “the regulated rate” is a hangover from the old
Regulated Rate Option and describes a different thing.

How to tell if you are on it

Look at the energy or commodity section of your bill for the retailer’s name. If it is your wires
company rather than a competitive retailer, or if the line says something like “Rate of Last Resort”,
that is your answer. If you cannot tell, send us the bill — that is half of what the Energy
Cost Audit does anyway.

What to do about it

Choosing a plan takes a few minutes and does not interrupt service. The real decision is
which plan — fixed for budget certainty, variable to track the market, or a blend for
larger loads. That should follow from your consumption profile, not from whoever called you last.

Get Energy’s published small-consumer rates today: variable electricity
7.06¢/kWh (30-day average, calculated September 8, 2026) and fixed 1-year
6.57¢/kWh. Sites above 250,000 kWh a year are quoted individually.

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.

More for Alberta businesses

Energy prices move every week. Our Alberta
Energy Market Report tracks wholesale power prices, the natural gas reference price and retail
rate movement every Monday.

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.