On a demand-metered Alberta site, one 15-minute interval sets a charge you then pay for the entire month — and on some tariffs for months afterwards. Moving that peak is usually free. It is the highest-return thing most businesses can do to their bill, and it requires no contract, no equipment and no switching.
Last updated September 12, 2026.
How demand billing works
Your energy charge is about how much you use. Your demand charge is about how hard you pull at your worst moment. The meter records consumption in intervals, usually 15 minutes, and the highest interval in the billing period becomes your billing demand. Multiply that by the tariff’s demand rate and you have a charge that has nothing to do with how careful you were the other 2,975 intervals of the month.
Some tariffs go further and apply a ratchet, where your billing demand cannot fall below a percentage of your highest peak over the previous eleven or twelve months. On a ratcheted account, one bad afternoon can be priced into your bill for a year. This is the single most expensive thing most operators do not know about their own account.
Where peaks actually come from
- Simultaneous start-up. Everything switching on within the first ten minutes of a shift on a cold morning.
- Electric heat and make-up air firing at the same time as production equipment.
- Compressors short-cycling against a leaking system, so they start far more often than the process requires.
- Refrigeration defrost cycles all timed to the same clock.
- Test runs, wash-downs and one-off jobs stacked on top of a normal production hour.
Notice how many of those are scheduling problems rather than equipment problems. That is the point.
What we do about it
We start with interval data, which most Alberta businesses have never seen for their own site. It shows the shape of a normal day, the shape of the day that set your peak, and how far apart the two are. From there the options run in order of cost:
- Sequencing. Stagger start-up across ten or fifteen minutes. Costs nothing but a written procedure.
- Scheduling. Move discretionary loads — charging, wash-down, batch processes — off the peak window.
- Controls. Interlocks and simple demand limiting so two large loads cannot run together by accident.
- Equipment. Variable speed drives, soft starters, compressor sequencing. Real money, real payback, only after the free options are done.
Rate class comes first
Before any of that, we check whether you are in the right rate class at all. A site that has grown or shrunk since its classification was set is often being billed under a structure that no longer matches how it operates. Fixing the classification can be worth more than years of careful peak shaving, and it is paperwork rather than capital.
Cost of the usual fixes
| Action | Typical cost | What it moves |
|---|---|---|
| Stagger equipment start-up | Nothing — a written procedure | The peak interval itself, often the largest single win |
| Reschedule discretionary load | Nothing | Peak, and sometimes energy cost too |
| Fix compressed air leaks | Low | Both demand and consumption, all year |
| Interlocks and demand limiting controls | Moderate | Prevents accidental coincident peaks |
| Variable speed drives and soft starters | Capital | Start-up surge, running demand and often power factor |
| Rate class correction | Paperwork | The structure the whole bill is calculated under |
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written summary of what we found and what, if anything, is worth changing. No cost, no obligation,
and no requirement to switch anything.
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Common questions
What is a demand charge on an Alberta business bill?
A demand charge prices the highest rate of power draw your site hits during the billing period, usually measured over a 15-minute interval, rather than total consumption. It appears in the delivery section of the bill and is set by your distribution utility’s approved tariff.
What is a demand ratchet?
A ratchet means your billed demand cannot fall below a set percentage of your highest peak over the previous eleven or twelve months. One unusually high interval can therefore raise your bill for a year after the event that caused it.
Can I reduce demand charges without buying equipment?
Usually yes. The most common cause of a peak is several large loads starting within the same few minutes, so staggering start-up and moving discretionary work off the peak window costs nothing and often produces the largest single reduction.
Do I need to switch retailers to do this?
No. Demand charges sit on the delivery side of the bill, so peak reduction and rate class corrections work regardless of who supplies your energy.
Other things the review can act on
- Power factor correction
- Demand and load management
- Commercial solar
- Combined heat and power
- Efficiency and controls
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?
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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.