Reading Your Power Bill

Confused about all those charges on your electric bill? Today we’ll walk you through how to read your bill. It would be best if you had your latest power bill in front of you, so you can follow along as you read this. If you don’t have one, you can use the sample bill provided here.

It makes no difference whether your power supplier is Yukon Energy or Yukon Electrical Company; both bills have the same charges and the same layout.

2. Statement Account: This is your account number. Have that number ready if you have questions for your service provider about your bill.
      
4. Reading/Codes: This is your meter reading. It shows how much energy you used during the billing period. An "A" beside the number indicates this is an actual meter reading. An "E" shows a reading has been estimated. A reading is estimated if the meter reader wasn’t able to reach your meter for some reason (heavy snow, etc.).
      
6. Energy Used (kWh): This shows the amount of electricity you used during the billing period. In the case of the sample bill, this household used 826 kilowatt hours (kWh) in a month. The average monthly usage per household is about 700 kWh.
      
8. Consumption by Bill Cycle Chart: This chart shows you how much electricity you use each month. The month is represented by the letter below it (O is for October for example)
      
10. Balance Forward: This will show if you have any money owning from previous months.
       
12. Customer Charge: This covers a portion of the cost for assets such as powerlines and generation stations. This charge applies even if no power is used.
       
14. Energy Charge: The cost of the electricity you have used. If you’re a residential customer, you are charged 9.86 cents per kilowatt hour for the first 1,000 kilowatt hours a month (this is referred to as the "first block" rate). For each kilowatt hour you use above 1,000 (the "second block"), you are charged 10.45 cents if you live in a community served by hydro power, 12.36 cents if you live in a diesel community, or 25.77 cents if you live in Old Crow.
       
16. Fuel Adjustment Rider: This is the first of a series of riders you will see on your bill. Riders are temporary adjustments on electrical bills. They may be a rebate or they may collect money from customers. They are put in place to adjust for factors that were not anticipated when the electrical rate was established. The Fuel Adjustment Rider reflects the difference between the cost of using diesel to generate power in 1997 (the last time rates were set) and today.
       
18. Rate Stabilization Fund: This is a subsidy provided by the Yukon government. It was implemented in 1998 after the Faro mine closed to protect customers from significant bill increases that would have resulted from that shutdown. The subsidy is scheduled to end on July 1 of this year.
       
20. YEC Revenue Shortfall Rider: You might know this as Rider J. Yukon Energy needs a certain amount of money to pay its expenses. All customers contribute to that pot of money, including the Faro mine when it was in operation. When the mine closed permanently in 1998, Yukon Energy still had to cover its expenses, but with fewer customers. Rider J covers ongoing fixed Yukon Energy costs that can no longer be charged to the Faro mine.
     
    Last year, Yukon Energy asked for a rate decrease. The Yukon Utilities Board is still considering that request. In the meantime, it has approved an interim decrease in Rider J of 3.48 percent.
       
22. YECL Interim Revenue Shortfall Rider: This is also known as Rider R. Yukon Electrical Company has asked for a rate increase. While the Yukon Utilities Board considers its request, it has been granted an interim rate increase of five percent.
       
24. Yukon Rebate of Income Tax: The Yukon government refunds part of the income tax paid by Yukon Electrical Company. That money is then passed on to customers.

Next time we’ll address a question that we have been asked quite often: “If I’m a Yukon Energy customer, why do I have to pay the five percent interim rate increase that has been given to Yukon Electrical Company? Shouldn’t it just be Yukon Electrical Company customers paying that increase?”