# Getting Electric and Gas Line in Alberta Tips



## jmbagsy (Mar 14, 2017)

Hi Everyone!

First time home buyer here. Just want to ask what's the best options for getting electric and gas line for our new home. Do they offer deals for first time clients too?
Thanks in advance!


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## Just a Guy (Mar 27, 2012)

Most houses already have lines to houses as part of the building process. You generally only need to set up an account with a service provider.

The product (gas or electricity) is relatively cheap and probably one of the cheaper aspects of your bill. They have all sorts of charges and taxes which probably make up at least 66% of the bill. So, all these “cheap” promos are usually on on the gas or power which doesn’t cost much to begin with, so your savings are minimal.


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## jmbagsy (Mar 14, 2017)

Just a Guy said:


> Most houses already have lines to houses as part of the building process. You generally only need to set up an account with a service provider.


Do we have the option to get it from a different service provider other than the one already on it? Thinking of shopping around to see who will give better rates or deals.


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## Just a Guy (Mar 27, 2012)

usually most regions allow you to select from a list of providers. Suggest you read the edits above


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## jmbagsy (Mar 14, 2017)

Just a Guy said:


> They have all sorts of charges and taxes which probably make up at least 66% of the bill.


Whoa.. 66% percent. I never imagined it would be like this in the breakdowns. Thanks for this info JAG.


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## nobleea (Oct 11, 2013)

jmbagsy said:


> Whoa.. 66% percent. I never imagined it would be like this in the breakdowns. Thanks for this info JAG.


In Alberta, you are free to choose from the supplier of your choice. The regulated, default rate is generally the cheaper long term option. There are lots of marketing companies that offer deals like a free ipad or whatever on a 2 or 3 yr contract at a fixed price. The regulated power rate is also capped in AB.

Direct Energy regulated services is the gas provider up north that does the regulated rate. There are dozens more that will offer fixed options that will seem cheaper (like a fixed mortgage rate), but are more expensive 99% of the time (like a fixed mortgage rate).

There are also green options with the marketers. Bullfrog power, and I believe ATCO as well have options of making you gas and/or power 50% or 100% green for an additional fee. Like 2c/kwh extra for power or something like that.


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## OhGreatGuru (May 24, 2009)

jmbagsy said:


> Hi Everyone!
> 
> First time home buyer here. Just want to ask what's the best options for getting electric and gas line for our new home. Do they offer deals for first time clients too?...


To clarify. The distributor of power and gas to your home will be predetermined; it is not practical or economical for multiple utility companies to install power and gas lines in the same neighbourhood. What has changed in recent years is that in many locations the portion of the bill for actual electricity or gas can be contracted to a 3rd party energy supplier. As others have noted, where energy is cheap (like gas in Alberta) and fixed distribution costs high in comparison, "shopping around" may not save you much. But posters from Alberta can give you more current info than I can.


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## nobleea (Oct 11, 2013)

OhGreatGuru said:


> To clarify. The distributor of power and gas to your home will be predetermined; it is not practical or economical for multiple utility companies to install power and gas lines in the same neighbourhood. What has changed in recent years is that in many locations the portion of the bill for actual electricity or gas can be contracted to a 3rd party energy supplier. As others have noted, where energy is cheap (like gas in Alberta) and fixed distribution costs high in comparison, "shopping around" may not save you much. But posters from Alberta can give you more current info than I can.


Correct. As an example, natural gas is serviced to our house by ATCO. We can also use them to buy the gas from, but most do not. There's dozens of gas suppliers in the province that offer a range of prices, contracts, guarantees, and free signing bonuses. The 'connection'/service fee that is charged by ATCO (in our case) is just over $50 a month. Use no gas, and this is how much you're paying. Nothing you can do about it. The regulated rate for natural gas in June and July was 37c/GJ. that is not a typo. We use about 150GJ per year. The average regulated price the past 2 years has been around $2/GJ. ATCO for example is offering a fixed rate of $3.69/GJ. So obviously not a great deal, costing around $20 extra a month.


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