Warehouses look simple and often are not. A large heated volume, high bay
lighting, dock doors opening into an Alberta winter, and sometimes racking, conveyors or cold
storage that change the load profile completely. Whether energy or delivery dominates your bill
depends almost entirely on which of those you have.
We supply and broker electricity and natural gas for warehouses and light industrial sites across
Alberta, and the free Energy Cost Audit works out which half of your bill is worth attacking
first.
Where the energy actually goes
| Load | What it means for the bill |
|---|---|
| Space heating (gas) | Heating a large volume through an Alberta winter, with dock doors undoing the work. Usually the dominant commodity cost. |
| High bay lighting | Long hours over a large floor plate. Steady electrical load, responsive to a one-time upgrade and to controls. |
| Material handling | Conveyors, chargers and compressors. Motor load, which brings demand and power factor into play. |
| Cold storage | If present, it changes everything: continuous heavy refrigeration load and the highest-value place to look. |
| Office area | Small relative to the warehouse, but usually on the same meter and often the only part anyone thinks about. |
Where the money usually is
Which half dominates
A steadily occupied warehouse has high load factor and its money is in the commodity contract. A peaky site with heavy material handling has its money in demand and power factor. Establishing which you are comes first.
Heating and the building envelope
Dock seals, destratification and controls change the gas bill more than any rate negotiation will.
Demand and power factor
Chargers, conveyors and compressors create the motor load profile that makes correction worthwhile on some sites and pointless on others.
Multi-tenant buildings
Shared metering and landlord accounts often sit on stale rate classes, particularly after a space has been subdivided.
Worth checking on your own bill
- Is the site’s demand charge a large share of the bill, or is it commodity-dominated?
- Is the gas contract chosen and dated, or default and auto-renewing?
- Has the rate class been reviewed since the building changed use or tenancy?
- Are there separate house or landlord meters nobody has shopped?
- Does billed demand track actual activity month to month?
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
What drives energy costs in an Alberta warehouse?
Usually natural gas for space heating, followed by high bay lighting and material handling equipment. Sites with cold storage are dominated instead by continuous refrigeration load.
Should a warehouse focus on its rate or its delivery charges?
It depends on load factor. Steadily occupied sites benefit most from the commodity contract; sites with peaky material handling loads usually have more money in demand charges and power factor.
Can a landlord review energy for a multi-tenant industrial building?
Yes. House and common area meters are ordinary accounts and can be reviewed and contracted like any other, and their rate classification is often out of date after subdivision.
More for Alberta businesses
- Business energy in Alberta — the overview
- The Energy Cost Audit — what we review and what you get
- Distribution and transmission charges on a business bill
- Small business electricity rates in Alberta
- Commercial natural gas in Alberta
- Do you need an energy broker in Alberta?
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 published small business rates: variable electricity 7.06¢/kWh (30-day average, calculated September 8, 2026), fixed 1-year 6.57¢/kWh, variable natural gas $3.71/GJ (calculated September 5, 2026), administration fee $9.97 per site per month. Sites above 250,000 kWh or 2,500 GJ a year are quoted on their own profile. Last updated September 12, 2026.
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.