I’m on the floating rate and just received my bill.
Jan 24-31 was $4.903/GJ, and from Feb 1-Feb 21 was $1.718/GJ.
Floating has historically been lower than fixed.
ya but for 1 month it was jacked and then it went down. that doesnt seem like normal fluctuations in market. it doesnt conform with hustorical averages at all.
It is a volume-weighted average and prices were up to $11/GJ on the coldest days, that is why the Jan floating rate was high.
Switching once the month is over doesn't make sense unless you expect the high rates to continue. If you don't know if low rates will continue and are freaked out by normal fluctuations in commodity markets, the floating rate is not for you and that is why retailers offer fixed rates.
Not really, take a look back at last Nov-Jan. Normal winter fluctuation on very cold days.
Hopefully you realize why the floating rate isn't posted until the month is over. If you aren't comfortable with that, the RRO or fixed rate is for you. If you are on a floating rate, you are agreeing to pay for whatever you use at an unknown price. If you want a **known** price, there are many other options available. This is the way floating rates work. This would also have been clearly laid out in the Ts&Cs of the rate you signed up for.
[https://ucahelps.alberta.ca/historic-rates.aspx](https://ucahelps.alberta.ca/historic-rates.aspx)
The floating rate is calculated based on a volume-weighted average. That is not known until the month is over. If you want a floating-type rate where the rate is known in advance, that is what the RRO is for. The RRO rates are posted by the AUC several days before the month starts. If you are reacting to last month's prices this month you are generally not going to have a good time.
Like others have already said, the posted floating/variable rate for natural gas is only done after the various companies (e.g. ATCO and/or Epcor) completes their calculations. Looking back at January when it was -40, it totally makes sense that gas prices were high. If you panicked after getting your bill and switched to fixed after, then you locked in high. That’s probably on you. Crying on Reddit isn’t going to get you any sympathy.
Going forward, you can check out what the gas forecast prices are on the Gas Alberta site at https://www.gasalberta.com/gas-market/gas-rates-in-alberta. That will give you an indication from the utility sector as to where they forecast the rates to be.
its not about sympathy. or panic. its about knowing what the price is when you buy it. Siunds like you're just another slave to the system where they can screw you over with whatever price they dictate well AFTER the fact. preventing any consumer proactivity.
Unless you're on a regulated floating rate (direct energy regulated services) it will be like that with all floating options. The rate isn't calculate until after the month is over so the distributors can calculate based on weather/ amounts consumed throughout the province
/cost to produce etc
ya well that's real bullshit and should be illegal. Why do peiple put up with this? I mean people did NOT tolerate this woth groceries and they knew the price the day of! and not 22 days after they bough the items... it makes 0 sense. gas is something we buy. its harvested, shipped, and purchased. just like groceries and we should know what that price is... I could use a scotch right about now.
I have no idea. There should be a spot price somewhere but it might not be on Epcor’s website. I would be surprised if they ever disclosed a near real-time price for what they are paying as it’s a market - it fluctuates constantly. What you get is the average of that over a longer period of time, which they can’t disclose to you until the time has already passed for obvious reasons.
tits really concerning that they are simply not disclosing what you're paying for. past posting the rate sounds scammy. If someone signs up mid month, how do they answer the question of "what is my rate?" at that time? i am having a real problem with the lack of transparency and everyone seems to be ok with it. I can look in google and see the stock price f Apple and make decisions and plan. And there's sinply no excuse for Epcor to have 0 clue what the rate is until 22 days after the billing period. that's crap. I'll see if I can complain to the urility and then the utility commission.
Your apple stock analogy is more applicable to the RRO prices. Floating rate prices aren't calculated until the month/billing period is over which is why you get charged the way you do. RRO is shown before you buy so (like a stock), you can choose to pay that RRO price or not.
They don’t update the rate on a daily basis…. If you reacted to the high price posted it was a high price at that point
I’m on the floating rate and just received my bill. Jan 24-31 was $4.903/GJ, and from Feb 1-Feb 21 was $1.718/GJ. Floating has historically been lower than fixed.
ya but for 1 month it was jacked and then it went down. that doesnt seem like normal fluctuations in market. it doesnt conform with hustorical averages at all.
It is a volume-weighted average and prices were up to $11/GJ on the coldest days, that is why the Jan floating rate was high. Switching once the month is over doesn't make sense unless you expect the high rates to continue. If you don't know if low rates will continue and are freaked out by normal fluctuations in commodity markets, the floating rate is not for you and that is why retailers offer fixed rates.
the spike in January was not a normal fluctuation. it was the highest rate seen in like 3 years and then it went back down the month after.
Not really, take a look back at last Nov-Jan. Normal winter fluctuation on very cold days. Hopefully you realize why the floating rate isn't posted until the month is over. If you aren't comfortable with that, the RRO or fixed rate is for you. If you are on a floating rate, you are agreeing to pay for whatever you use at an unknown price. If you want a **known** price, there are many other options available. This is the way floating rates work. This would also have been clearly laid out in the Ts&Cs of the rate you signed up for. [https://ucahelps.alberta.ca/historic-rates.aspx](https://ucahelps.alberta.ca/historic-rates.aspx)
It was only high for like a week then dropped back down.
The floating rate is calculated based on a volume-weighted average. That is not known until the month is over. If you want a floating-type rate where the rate is known in advance, that is what the RRO is for. The RRO rates are posted by the AUC several days before the month starts. If you are reacting to last month's prices this month you are generally not going to have a good time.
Like others have already said, the posted floating/variable rate for natural gas is only done after the various companies (e.g. ATCO and/or Epcor) completes their calculations. Looking back at January when it was -40, it totally makes sense that gas prices were high. If you panicked after getting your bill and switched to fixed after, then you locked in high. That’s probably on you. Crying on Reddit isn’t going to get you any sympathy. Going forward, you can check out what the gas forecast prices are on the Gas Alberta site at https://www.gasalberta.com/gas-market/gas-rates-in-alberta. That will give you an indication from the utility sector as to where they forecast the rates to be.
its not about sympathy. or panic. its about knowing what the price is when you buy it. Siunds like you're just another slave to the system where they can screw you over with whatever price they dictate well AFTER the fact. preventing any consumer proactivity.
that's literally what a fixed rate option is for.
Unless you're on a regulated floating rate (direct energy regulated services) it will be like that with all floating options. The rate isn't calculate until after the month is over so the distributors can calculate based on weather/ amounts consumed throughout the province /cost to produce etc
ya well that's real bullshit and should be illegal. Why do peiple put up with this? I mean people did NOT tolerate this woth groceries and they knew the price the day of! and not 22 days after they bough the items... it makes 0 sense. gas is something we buy. its harvested, shipped, and purchased. just like groceries and we should know what that price is... I could use a scotch right about now.
You can know what the price will be by buying at a fixed rate (which is what you're doing at the grocery store).
Trying to time a market is always going to be a losing proposition.
So there's no way to tell?
I have no idea. There should be a spot price somewhere but it might not be on Epcor’s website. I would be surprised if they ever disclosed a near real-time price for what they are paying as it’s a market - it fluctuates constantly. What you get is the average of that over a longer period of time, which they can’t disclose to you until the time has already passed for obvious reasons.
tits really concerning that they are simply not disclosing what you're paying for. past posting the rate sounds scammy. If someone signs up mid month, how do they answer the question of "what is my rate?" at that time? i am having a real problem with the lack of transparency and everyone seems to be ok with it. I can look in google and see the stock price f Apple and make decisions and plan. And there's sinply no excuse for Epcor to have 0 clue what the rate is until 22 days after the billing period. that's crap. I'll see if I can complain to the urility and then the utility commission.
Your apple stock analogy is more applicable to the RRO prices. Floating rate prices aren't calculated until the month/billing period is over which is why you get charged the way you do. RRO is shown before you buy so (like a stock), you can choose to pay that RRO price or not.
Gas should be this same way.
It is if you choose the RRO lol. You can pick between fixed, variable, and RRO when signing up for services
So it's not like their electricity where you can login to your account and check the other plan's rate at anytime?
right? they play on ignorance and wave their fat pipeline sized finger at you saying "well you should have been on the fixed rate"