Electricity Distribution DISTRIBUTION is the final stage in the delivery of electric power. Distribution lines carry electricity from the transmission system to individual consumers. Electricity System Overview Generation Transmission Distribution Retail/Customer • Competitive/market based • Fully regulated • Fully regulated • Partially deregulated • Private investment • Cost-of-Service Model • Supports retail • Competitive Contracts competition • Energy only market design • One rate for Albertans • Regulated rate option for small consumers How is Distribution Regulated? The Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC) approves the distribution rates charged by investor-owned and certain municipally-owned wires to ensure they are fair and reasonable. The distribution tariff on a customer’s bill recovers the cost to the wire owner for things such as the design, maintenance, operation, construction and financing of the electric system that delivers energy to a customer’s home. The AUC introduced a new rate regulation initiative, Performance-Based Regulation (PBR), in 2014. PBR is a tool to make utilities more efficient for Albertans while maintaining electric system reliability and service quality. It is also designed to reduce the number, length, cost and complexity of regulatory hearings. This new regulatory initiative is intended to allow the AUC to focus more of its attention on prices and the quality of service, which are important to customers. To view the AUC’s brochure on PBR, visit www.auc.ab.ca/items-of-interest/Performance-BasedRegulation/Pages/default.aspx Electricity Distribution Owners & Operators Distribution lines are owned and operated by a mixture of investor owned utilities, municipalities and Rural Electrification Associations. • The four major distribution companies in Alberta are EPCOR, ENMAX, ATCO and FortisAlberta. • Additionally, there are six municipalities and 34 Rural Electrification Associations that manage distribution operations. ATCO Electric transmission and distribution territory. AltaLink transmission territory and FortisAlberta distribution territory. Edmonton transmission and distribution provided by EPCOR Distribution & Transmission Inc. Fort McMurray Calgary transmission and distribution provided by ENMAX Power. Red Deer distribution provided by City of Red Deer. Grand Prairie Lethbridge distribution provided by City of Lethbridge. Intertie between Alberta and BC, owned and operated by AltaLink. Edmonton Lloydminster Intertie between Alberta and Saskatchewan, owned and Jasper operated by ATCO Electric. Red Deer Intertie between Alberta and Montana, owned and operated by Enbridge. Drumheller The City of Medicine Hat is not part of the Alberta Calgary Interconnected Electric System; they operate like an Burstall, SK intertie and transmission and distribution are owned by the city. Medicine Hat Lethbridge AltaLink serves 85 per cent of Albertans. Municipality of Crowsnest Pass Fortis Alberta serves over 200 communities. Utility Total Company Transmission Distribution 2012 GWh 2012 No. of lines length lines length consumed customers (kms) (kms) ATCO Electric - Northern & East Central Alberta 10,319.9 215,964 ATCO Electric 10,000 (approx.) 62,000 (approx.) ENMAX Power - City of Calgary 9,440.0 444,549 AltaLink 12,000 (approx.) N/A EPCOR Distribution & Transmission - City of Edmonton 7,523.5 350,708 Fortis Alberta N/A 116,000 (approx.) FORTIS - Southern & Central Alberta 23,522.0 503,644 EPCOR Distribution & 203 5,000 (approx.) City of Lethbridge 783.0 37,171 Tranmsission Inc. City of Medicine Hat 807.1 30,961 ENMAX 288 7,700 (approx.) City of Red Deer 774.6 40,683 Other towns & villages* 113.1 8,217 Total 53,283.2 1,631,897 *Other towns and villages include Fort Macleod, Cardston, Crowsnest Pass and Ponoka October 2014.