Standard Bill Example

Area/Cycle

The Area number is our way of identifying what region of Alberta your service is located in. The Cycle number identifies the billing cycle within which your account is billed.

Account Number

Your Account Number is a unique number that identifies your account with AltaGas Utilities Inc. Your account maintains information on charges and payments related to the services you receive.

Amount Now Due

The Amount Now Due includes both Current Charges and any Balance Forward from previous statements. Any unpaid Balance Forward from previous statements is past due and should be paid immediately. To avoid late payment charges, your payment for Current Charges must reach us by the Due Date.

Statement Date

The Statement Date is the date the statement is printed and mailed to the mailing address.

Amount Paid

You can write the amount you are going to pay to your account in this box.

Mailing Address

The mailing address information that appears on the remittance portion of your statement (the part that is torn off and returned with your payment) should be current and exactly match your correct mailing information. If it is incorrect, please notify us and we will update our records.

Site ID/Premise

Your Site ID/Premise is a unique number that identifies your service site (the building or thing we provide natural gas distribution service to).

Customer Name

This is your name or the name of your business.

Service Address

This is the address where natural gas service is being provided to you. It may or may not be the same as the Mailing Address.

Meter No.

The Meter Number is a unique identifier for the meter that is measuring the amount of gas being consumed at the service site. With routine meter maintenance, you may see this number change (usually once every seven years or so) when the meter is exchanged for inspection.

Usage From and To Dates

The Usage From and Usage To dates identify the period for which gas usage occurred and billing is being applied. These dates are used to calculate the number of Days covered by the current billing period.

Days

Days are the number of days for which gas usage occurred and billing is being applied.

Meter Reading

The Meter Reading From is the reading of the meter at the beginning of the billing period. It should be the same as the Meter Reading To of your previous month's bill. The "Meter Reading To" is the reading of the meter at the end of the billing period. The difference between the Meter Reading From and Meter Reading To is the number of hundred cubic feet (ccf) of natural gas used during the billing period.

Volume (ccf)

The Volume is measured in units of hundreds of cubic feet. It is calculated by taking the difference between the Meter Reading To and From numbers.

The Volume is one of the numbers used in calculating the Billing Units or amount of energy used during the billing period.

Conversion Factors

Our meters record gas volume. The Pressure Factor adjusts the metered volume to standard volume.

The Energy Factor is the number of gigajoules in one standard volume unit. We multiply the standard volume by the energy factor to calculate the total gigajoules to bill.

Billing Units - gigajoule (GJ)

A gigajoule (GJ) is the standard unit of energy in the SI (metric) system of measurement. Your bill is for the number of units of energy, or gigajoules, that you used.

Consumption History

This is a graphical representation of the Billing Units recorded for your account over the past thirteen months.

Special Messages Box

The Special Messages Box located in the lower left-hand corner of your statement may contain:
- special messages pertaining to changes in rates,
- notices about late payments,
- notices about refunds or rebates to customers, or
- other important billing-related matters.

Please pay special attention to messages that appear in this box.

Service Type

Your Type specifies what type of natural gas distribution service you receive from AltaGas Utilities Inc.

Previous Amount Due

The Previous Amount Due shows any unpaid amounts prior to the current billing. If the account is overpaid, it will display as a credit balance. Please note any unpaid Balance Forward is past due and should be paid immediately. To avoid late payment charges, your payment for Current Charges must reach us by the Due Date.

Payment - Thank You - Date

This line item identifies any payment that has been made to your account and the date it was received by our billing system. A valid payment should appear as a credit to your account.

If you have made a payment and it does not appear on your current statement, due to the timing of the payment and processing, it may not appear until your following statement.

Balance Forward

The Balance Forward is the net difference between total charges and total payments up to the current billing period. Any unpaid Balance Forward from previous statements is past due and should be paid immediately. To avoid late payment charges, your payment for Current Charges must reach us by the Due Date.

Current Charges - From and To Dates

The Current Charges are charges that apply to your account for the current billing period.

Basic charges will include:
- Fixed Charges
    Fixed Distribution (Base) Charge
    Fixed Default Supply Provider Charge
- Third Party Transportation Charge
- Variable Distribution (Base) Energy Charge
- Gas Cost Recovery Charge
- Property and Franchise Fee
- Goods and Services Tax (GST)

Current Charges can also include other miscellaneous or Special charges.

Fixed Distribution (Base) Charge

The Fixed Distribution (Base) Charge is a daily fee to recover a portion of the cost of providing you gas distribution service regardless of the amount of energy used. This includes the cost of building, operating, and maintaining the system.

Fixed Default Supply Provider Charge

The Fixed Default Supply Provider Charge is a daily fee to recover the cost incurred by AltaGas Utilities to be your default gas supply provider. This includes costs associated with customer service, billing, and collections, which do not vary with the amount of energy used.

Variable Distribution (Base) Energy Charge

This fee is calculated based on a per unit rate times the amount of energy consumed. The Variable Distribution (Base) Energy Charge includes the balance of gas distribution service costs not covered by the Fixed Distribution (Base) Charge and Demand Charge.

Gas Cost Recovery Charge

The Gas Cost Recovery Charge for default gas supply is a separate per unit charge for the natural gas you consume. This charge collects from customers only our gas supply management costs and what has been paid to natural gas suppliers. AltaGas Utilities is not permitted to mark-up or profit from this charge. The Alberta Utilities Commission regulates the Gas Cost Recovery rate, in addition to all our other charges.

Third Party Transportation

The variable energy charge referred to as the Third Party Transportation Charge permits the utility to recover the costs of transporting natural gas for our customers through pipelines owned by other companies.

Deficiency Rider Charge

The Deficiency Rider charge or refund is required when the Alberta Utilities Commission approves a cost of service for a test year that is either greater or less than what AUI’s rates are designed to recover.

Property & Franchise Fee

Taxes levied against AltaGas Utilities’ land and buildings, linear property, machinery, and equipment are collected and paid in full to municipalities. Additional fees may also be collected and paid directly to your municipality in consideration of the exclusive grant of franchise and for the ability to put gas distribution facilities on land owned by your municipality.

Due Date

The Due Date is the date we expect to receive full payment of the Current Charges on your statement. Any unpaid Balance Forward from previous statements is past due and should be paid immediately. Any unpaid balance remaining after the Due Date is subject to a Late Payment Charge. Since the Late Payment Charge applies only to unpaid balances, partial payments are preferable rather than no payment at all.