Frequently Asked Questions
Your questions are important to us! Below are many common questions and answers.
We provide electricity and natural gas to all areas of Alberta that are NOT part of a Rural Electrification Association or Gas Coop. If you aren’t sure if you are covered by an REA, you can check at the following website: http://www.afrea.ab.ca/links . Scroll down to the Member Rural Electrification Associations section and see if your area is listed. Still not sure? Check out the Map of Services link here: http://www.afrea.ab.ca/map-services. If your service address/site is in any of the yellow areas, it is serviced by an REA. If not, you can sign up and get your electricity and natural gas through Burst Energy!
In Alberta, you can choose how you buy electricity. You can sign a contract with an Energy Retailer at an agreed contract price and terms. You also can buy your electricity at a regulated rate, often called the RRO. The regulated rate is the unit price of electricity (cents per kilowatt hour – ¢/kWh). The Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC) regulates Alberta’s investor-owned and municipally-owned utilities to ensure that customers receive electricity at a just and reasonable rate. This rate changes each month. If you have not chosen a competitive electricity retailer and you use less than 250,000 kWh per year, you will continue to be eligible for the RRO.
An energy contract is a legal agreement between you and an Energy Retailer, such as Burst Energy. It states the price you will pay for the energy and the terms and conditions of your energy purchase.
You have a cooling-off period, which lets you cancel within 10 days of the date we receive your completed sign-up form. You can also cancel any time after that with just 10 business days’ notice before your next meter reading date. We have made it exceptionally easy for you.
You can transfer your contract with you to your new location. Just give us one month’s notice that you are moving, provide us with your new Site ID for electricity and we’ll take care of the rest.
Below are the common terms in your Burst Energy’s monthly invoice:
Administration (Admin) Fees:
This covers the basic transactional fees incurred by Sponsor Energy and us in processing your invoice.
Distribution Fees:
These fees are regulated by the Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC). The current charges invoiced by the Wires Distribution Company that services your site is billed monthly, with direct pass-through of distribution fees. No additional charges or markup are applied to these charges.
Energy Price:
The energy price is adjusted monthly. It is based on the average Wholesale Cost of electricity consumed plus Retailer Markup (profit margin for Burst Energy). This price is applied to the energy you use, based on the meter read.
Meter Read:
Each month the Wires Distribution Company (ATCO, ENMAX, EPCOR, FortisAlberta, Lethbridge, etc.) will read your meter and prepare a file called a Tariff Bill File (TBF). This electronic file is sent to the retailer. It contains the current meter read and the date the meter was read. The difference between the current read and the previous read is your actual consumption during the defined period. The actual consumption is used to calculate the cost and price of your energy use.
Wholesale Cost:
This is the actual cost of the electricity you consumed. To calculate the Wholesale Cost, we use the hourly Pool Price (PP) averaged over the calendar month. We then adjust this cost based on your consumption relative to your Profile Class. This Profile Class is determined by your Wires Distribution Company. The Wholesale Cost includes the Line Loss (LL), Unaccounted For Energy (UFE), Retailers’ Adjustments to Market (RAM) plus the Alberta Electric System Operator’s Spot Trading Charge (STC).
The following terms are often used in the electricity industry – Line Losses (LL), Pool Prices (PP), Spot Trading Charge (STC) and Unaccounted For Energy (UFE). A few brief descriptions are given below, but for more detailed explanations please visit our Glossary.
Line Loses (LL):
LL — The information to calculate the LL is obtained from the WCI transaction (as referenced within the Systems Settlement Code as administered by the AUC). For customers in all other distribution zones, the line loss factor is provided by the distribution company and referenced as a percentage.
Power Pool (PP) prices:
PP — Refers to the hourly Power Pool price as published by the Alberta Electric System Operator.
Spot Trading Charge (STC):
STC — Refers to the Spot Trading Charge as published by the Alberta Electric Systems Operator.
Unaccounted for Energy (UFE):
UFE — Refers to the unaccounted-for energy. The UFE factor is obtained from the SSI transaction as provided by the Load Settlement Agent (LSA). The LSA is the operating division within each Distribution Company.
No, if you do not have this information from your current bill, we can find it for you.
Yes, regulated rate (month-to-month) customers can switch over at any time. If you have signed a long-term contract, we encourage you to contact your current retailer to verify the cancellation process and to determine if any exit fees or penalties need to be paid, prior to switching to a new energy retailer.
No. Services provided by competitive retailers differ only by price and other contract features and the electricity or natural gas will continue to come to your home or business, through the same network of wires or pipes, no matter who you choose as an energy retailer.
By law, the local utility company is not allowed to provide different care levels to customers who have chosen an alternate supplier. You will continue to receive the same level of delivery quality, emergency response and meter reading from your current local utility. If for some reason, a competitive retailer decided to abruptly end its services, then that company’s customers would automatically be enrolled with the regulated rate provider.
There are no enrollment fees. In some cases, due to credit score, a deposit may be required.
Pre-authorized debit from a chequing account and from a credit card are our two methods of payment.
Our payment due dates are based on when your meter is read by the distribution company. The meter readings and consumption information is sent to us electronically and bills are produced with a payment date seven days after the billing date. These dates may not be changed.
Electricity exported to the grid by Small Micro-Generators (MG), as defined under the provisions of the Province of Alberta, Electric Utilities Act, Micro-Generation Regulation, is calculated based on meter-read information provided by your distribution company.
The exported electricity meter data is processed monthly and will be included as an ‘MG Credit’ on your bill. The credit will be calculated using the fixed or variable rate chosen by the customer for their imported energy.
If you have a power outage or other energy-related emergency, please call the local utility company for your area (ATCO Electric, ENMAX, EPCOR, FORTIS Alberta, ATCO Gas, etc.). Contact numbers for the utility company may also be found on your current bill.
We are very concerned about the security and confidentiality of your personal information. Each account is secured by a unique combination of User ID and password and all systems and data are stored in a secure, fully redundant data center that is monitored 24/7.
Billing Q&A
When you sign up with Burst Energy, you will be asked to upload your banking information to a secure site either by scanning or emailing a void cheque or withdrawal form from your bank. This allows us to formalize your application and initiate service. Please note that payments are made exclusively by automatic withdrawal and payments made by cheque cannot be processed.
Your meter continues to be monitored by the line provider (such as Fortis) regardless of the distributor you choose (such as Burst Energy). Meter readings are sent to Sponsor
Energy (the billing provider), and are processed the following Tuesday.
Invoicing occurs the Tuesday after we have received your meter reading for the month. On that Tuesday, you will receive an email notification (between 8-10 pm MST) indicating that your invoice is available to be viewed on your online portal. Your online portal will indicate both the invoice amount and the date we intend to withdraw funds from your account. Paper statements are mailed out Wednesday, with their arrival date dependent upon Canada Post timelines.
You will receive an email detailing the amount of your bill, and the date that your payment will be withdrawn from your account.
There is a fee for NSF payments of $30.00. If you anticipate a shortage and need to make further arrangements, please contact us as soon as possible upon receiving your monthly bill.
When you sign up with Burst Energy, you will select a date to commence services. On that date, your services will be discontinued with your previous provider and Burst Energy will begin as your utility retailer. We encourage our customers to discuss the termination date and associated conditions with their current provider if there is any concern over potential termination fees.
If you have both electricity and gas services through burst energy, you will see a combined total showing as your monthly balance owing.
If you have more than one property under your name, you will receive a single email stating that your invoices are ready to be viewed on your online dashboard. The dashboard allows you to download, view and print your monthly utility bill(s).
Hard copies of your bill can be sent to you by mail for a fee of $3.00 monthly. *Note that if you receive your bill by mail, your account may have been debited prior to you receiving it.
We do have a budget plan available. Please contact us for further details.
To make changes to your billing or payment information, or for other inquiries please contact Burst Energy at 1.866.516.3085 or by email at: customercare@burstenergy.ca
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