Written consultation established on draft rule to facilitate funding to the Utilities Consumer Advocate

On October 8, 2024, the Alberta Utilities Commission issued Bulletin 2024-21 and established a written consultation process on a draft rule. The Electricity Statutes (Modernizing Alberta’s Electricity Grid) Amendment Act, 2022, which received royal assent on May 31, 2022, introduced a requirement for the Alberta Utilities Commission to facilitate an administration fee on gas and electric utilities to pay for the Office of the Utilities Consumer Advocate’s (UCA) estimated net expenditures for a fiscal year. This legislative requirement is driven by the dissolution of the Balancing Pool, which previously provided funding to the UCA. The impacts of the change in funding to the UCA are expected to be administrative in nature and should not increase financial burden on customers. In response, the AUC has drafted a rule to facilitate funding to the UCA and has established a written consultation process for public comment. 

The draft rule places a UCA administration fee on distribution utilities regulated by the AUC and sets out its determination and calculation. The UCA administration fee will be payable by the distribution utilities identified in the rule. The AUC intends to issue an order requiring regulated utilities to pay this fee annually. Further details on this process are included in the UCA Administration Fee Backgrounder, and can be found under consultation documents.   

Your feedback may be submitted by emailing engage@auc.ab.ca. The deadline for submissions is November 12, 2024. 

Any questions related to this bulletin may be directed to Laura Johnson at laura.johnson@auc.ab.ca. 

Alberta Utilities Commission