Setting Up Utilities in Alberta: A First-Week Checklist for Newcomers
You have an Alberta address and a move-in date. Here is exactly what to set up, in what order, and how long each piece takes.
Setting up utilities in Alberta catches newcomers off guard for one reason: nobody assigns you an electricity company. You pick one. If you have arrived from British Columbia, Ontario, Manitoba or Quebec, that job simply did not exist before — you called the provincial utility and that was the whole decision. In Alberta it is a real choice, and it affects what you pay every month.
This is the checklist we give people in their first week.
Before you start: what an Alberta utility bill is made of
Three separate things arrive on one bill, and only one of them is competitive:
- The energy itself — the electricity or natural gas you used. This is the part you choose a company for.
- Delivery — transmission and distribution, charged by the wires company that physically owns the poles and lines at your address. Identical no matter who you buy energy from.
- Fees — the local access fee or municipal franchise fee your municipality charges, plus administration charges.
That first bullet is the reason shopping matters, and the reason two neighbours on the same street can pay different amounts for the same kilowatt-hours.
1Find out who your wires company is
You cannot choose this one. It is set by your address: EPCOR in Edmonton, ENMAX in Calgary, ATCO Electric across northern and east-central Alberta, FortisAlberta across much of the rest, and a handful of city-owned utilities. You still need to know which it is, because it determines your delivery charges and it is who you call when the power actually goes out.
We wrote a full guide to identifying yours: Who is my wires company in Alberta?
2Choose an electricity retailer (and a gas retailer)
This is the actual decision. Your options fall into two groups:
- The default option. For electricity this is the Rate of Last Resort — the fallback rate for anyone who has not chosen a retailer. It is month-to-month with no contract, and it is designed as a safety net rather than a good deal. For natural gas, the default is a fluctuating default rate tariff.
- A competitive retailer. You choose the company and the plan. Fixed, variable, or something in between, often with electricity and gas bundled onto a single bill.
If you do nothing at all, you land on the default by inertia. A surprising number of Albertans have been there for years without realising it was a decision they never made.
Current Get Energy rates are always published here: getenergy.ca/rates.
3Have this information ready
Whoever you sign up with will ask for most of this, so gather it once:
- Your full service address, including unit number
- Your move-in date
- The site ID for the address if you have it (13 digits for electricity, and a separate one for gas — it is on any recent bill for the property)
- Photo ID and contact details
- Whether you also need natural gas at the address
4Mind the timing
Alberta’s Utilities Consumer Advocate puts the normal timeline at 10 to 15 days to set up electricity and natural gas with a competitive retailer once the contract is signed, and in unusual situations it can stretch to 90. Start the week you have a confirmed possession date rather than the week you move.
Important reassurance, because this is the question everyone asks: you will not be sitting in the dark. If your chosen retailer has not taken over yet, the default retailer in your area serves the address in the meantime. The power stays on; only the name on the bill changes.
5Do not forget natural gas
Most Alberta homes heat with natural gas, not electricity. If you have come from Quebec or Manitoba, where electric heat is the norm, this is a genuinely new bill. It is separate from electricity, it has its own retailer choice, and it is delivered by a gas distributor — ATCO Gas or Apex Utilities in most of the province.
Gas is also the bill that swings hardest between July and January here. Budget for winter.
6Then the rest
Water and waste are handled by your municipality, not by a retailer — set those up with the city or town directly. Internet is its own market: our sister company covers that at getwifi.ca.
A note on fixed versus variable
The instinct from a regulated province is to find the safest-looking number and stop thinking about it. Alberta rewards a little more attention. Our variable customers get RateRewind™: each month, before the invoice is finalized, you see where the variable rate is trending. If it is heading up, you can switch to a fixed rate and backdate it as far as your last meter read — billed as though you had been on that fixed rate the whole time. Penalty-free, once per billing cycle.
It is the flexibility of variable with the benefit of hindsight, which is about as close as this market gets to a safety net.
Frequently asked questions
How do I set up electricity in Alberta?
Choose a retailer, give them your service address, move-in date and ID, and they handle enrolment with your local wires company. Allow 10 to 15 days. If it has not completed by move-in, the default retailer serves your address in the interim, so you are never without power.
Can I choose my electricity company in Alberta?
Yes. Alberta has a competitive retail market, so you choose who sells you electricity and natural gas. You cannot choose the wires company that delivers it — that is fixed by your address.
How long does it take to set up utilities in Alberta?
Typically 10 to 15 days with a competitive retailer after the contract is signed, though it can take up to 90 days in unusual cases.
What happens if I do not choose a retailer?
You are served by the default retailer for your area on the Rate of Last Resort for electricity, or the default rate tariff for natural gas. You keep service, but you are on a fallback rate rather than one you chose.
Do I need a separate natural gas account in Alberta?
Usually yes. Most Alberta homes heat with natural gas, and it is billed separately from electricity with its own retailer choice. Some retailers combine both onto one bill.
What is a site ID?
A unique identifier for a metered property in Alberta — 13 digits for electricity, with a separate one for natural gas. It appears on any bill for the address and tells a retailer exactly which meter to enrol.
Ready to set up power and gas at your new Alberta address? Start here.
Get Energy is a tradename of Utility Network & Partners Inc.