How Much Does It Cost to Run a House in Alberta Per Month?

Short answer: most Alberta households spend somewhere between $250 and $450 a month on electricity, natural gas, water and waste combined, and the utility portion (power plus gas) is usually $150 to $300 of that. Roughly half of a power bill is delivery charges you cannot shop, so the controllable part is your energy rate and your retailer’s fees.

Rate figures update daily from our live rate sheet. Last updated August 20, 2026.

What actually makes up the number

People search for a single monthly figure, but Alberta bills are built from parts that behave very differently. It is worth separating them, because only two of them respond to anything you do.

Component Who sets it Can you change it?
Electricity energy charge Your retailer Yes — shop the rate
Natural gas energy charge Your retailer Yes — shop the rate
Retailer administration fee Your retailer Yes — shop the fee
Transmission and distribution AUC-approved, by wires company No
Local access fee Your municipality No
Riders, balancing pool adjustments Regulated No
Water, sewer, waste Your municipality Only through usage

Working out your electricity cost

A typical Alberta home uses around 600 kWh a month, though that varies enormously. A one-bedroom apartment might use 300 kWh; a large home with air conditioning, a hot tub and an EV can pass 1,500 kWh.

At current rates, the energy portion for 600 kWh looks like this:

  • Variable at 5.31¢/kWh — about $31.86
  • One-year fixed at 6.57¢/kWh — about $39.42
  • Rate of Last Resort at about 12.02¢/kWh — about $72.12

Then add the administration fee ($9.97/month with us), the transaction fee on energy (0.70¢/kWh), delivery charges, local access fee and GST. Delivery is the part that surprises people: on many residential bills, transmission and distribution together are close to half the total, and they include a fixed daily charge that you pay even in a month where you use almost nothing.

Working out your natural gas cost

Gas is billed in gigajoules. Consumption is dramatically seasonal — a home that burns 2 GJ in July can burn 15 GJ or more in January. That is why an annual figure is more useful than a monthly one for gas: pull twelve months of GJ off your bills and multiply by your rate.

At our current rates, each gigajoule costs $2.84 on the variable discount rate (30-day average, calculated August 14, 2026) or $3.77 fixed, plus the $0.50/GJ transaction fee, plus delivery charges from ATCO Gas or Apex Utilities depending on where you live.

Gas has been cheap. The Government of Alberta reference price fell from $2.46/GJ in January 2026 to $1.16/GJ in May, recovering to $1.37/GJ in June. Households that heat with gas have had two mild years on the energy line, though delivery charges have not fallen with it.

What drives the biggest differences between homes

  • Heating type. Gas heat with an electric furnace fan is the Alberta default and is generally cheaper to run than electric baseboard heat, which shifts your entire winter load onto the more expensive commodity.
  • Home age and envelope. Insulation and window quality change winter gas use more than any thermostat habit.
  • Square footage and occupancy. Predictable, and the reason provincial averages are close to useless for an individual household.
  • Big discretionary loads. A hot tub can add 200 to 500 kWh a month. An EV charged at home adds roughly 250 to 400 kWh a month for average driving.
  • Location. Delivery tariffs differ by wires company, and rural service areas generally carry higher distribution charges than urban ones.

The three changes that actually move the number

  1. Get off the default rate. If you have never signed with a retailer, you are on the Rate of Last Resort at 12.01 to 12.06¢/kWh. Moving to a competitive rate is the single largest one-step saving available, and it takes a few minutes.
  2. Compare the administration fee, not just the rate. On a low-consumption home, a $5 difference in monthly fee outweighs a half-cent difference in rate.
  3. Attack winter gas, not summer power. Weatherstripping, attic insulation and a properly programmed thermostat pay back faster in Alberta than almost any electricity measure, because the winter gas bill is where the money is.

If you want the arithmetic done on your own numbers rather than an average, our current rates page lists everything, and we are happy to compare a bill line by line.

Frequently asked questions

How much does it cost to run a house in Alberta per month?

Most households land between $250 and $450 a month for all utilities including water and waste, with electricity and natural gas typically making up $150 to $300 of that. Heating type, home size and whether you are on a competitive rate or the default rate move the figure substantially.

How much is the average Alberta electricity bill?

For a home using about 600 kWh a month, the energy portion is roughly $32 on a variable rate at 5.31¢/kWh or about $72 on the default Rate of Last Resort. Delivery charges, the administration fee, local access fees and GST are added on top and often account for close to half the bill.

Why is my delivery charge higher than my energy charge?

Because delivery is priced to recover the cost of the poles, wires, pipes and metering that serve your address, including a fixed daily charge. It is set by the Alberta Utilities Commission for your wires company and does not change when you switch retailers.

Is electric or gas heat cheaper in Alberta?

Natural gas heat is generally cheaper to run in Alberta, because gas is inexpensive per unit of heat delivered and electricity costs more per equivalent unit of energy. High-efficiency heat pumps narrow the gap in shoulder seasons but usually still need backup heat in an Alberta winter.

What is the fastest way to lower an Alberta utility bill?

Move off the default Rate of Last Resort to a competitive rate, then compare administration fees between retailers. Those two steps take minutes and do not require changing anything about how you use energy.

Sources

Get Energy is a competitive retailer offering electricity and natural gas services for residential, small business, and farm consumers across Alberta. Get Energy is a tradename of Utility Network & Partners Inc.