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How do I figure out my Bill?
(Sample Business Bill)
How to read your bill
Energy costs for Businesses are a little more complex than those, which apply to your home. We hope the information that follows will make it easier for you to understand the terms and calculations included in your bill.
What is "General Service"?
Most of our business customers - commercial, industrial, institutional and farming enterprises - are included in our General Service class. General Service Customers are broken down into 3 classes based on monthly demand, as follows:
Small General Service - Monthly demand of 50 kW or less
Medium General Service - Monthly demand greater than 50kW up to 1,000 kW
Industrial - Monthly demand between 1,000 and 5,000 kW
Sample Bill Calculation
A sample bill and bill calculation for a medium general service business account can be viewed by clicking on the above link. As you review your bill, you may notice some terms that are not familiar to you. A description of some of the key terms is provided below. An explanation of some of the electrical terms and codes is also provided on the back of each bill.
We have tried to make our bill as easy to understand as possible, while providing you with the most complete information available. The points shown below indicate where some of the most commonly requested information can be found.
Local Regulated Charges:
These are the charges that your local utility - Cambridge and North Dumfries Hydro Inc. - use to operate our business. The "Distribution Charge" will be based on energy (kWh's) for customers with demands less than 50 kW and on demand (kW) if you are classed as having a monthly demand over 50 kW. Where the distribution charge is based on kWh's it is calculated on "actual" (not loss adjusted) usage.
Provincial Regulated Charges:
These are the regulated provincial charges that we collect for province-wide services.
- Wholesale Market Services - this energy-based charge is for services provided by the Independent Electricity Market Operator (IMO) that operates Ontario's spot market where power is bought and sold.
- Transmission Services - this charge is based on kWh's for customers less than 50 kW or kW for customers over 50 kW. It is used to pay the costs of conveying electricity from the generating station to the local utility.
- Transformation Services - this charge is based on kWh's for customers less than 50 kW or on kW for customers over 50 kW. It represents the cost of "transforming" or "stepping down" electricity from the provincial transmission system voltage to the lower voltage for the local distribution system.
- Debt Retirement Charge - this energy-based charge is collected to pay down the debt of the former Ontario Hydro. This charge is calculated based on "actual" (not loss adjusted) consumption.
Commodity Charge:
The energy charge is based on the amount of electrical energy used over the billing period, as measured by the meter in kilowatt-hours (kWh's).
If you have not signed a contract with a Retailer, the charge is based on the wholesale commodity price for the billing period.
If you have contracted with a Retailer, it is the Retailer who calculates the commodity charge, based on the terms of your contract and the Retailer then sends us the amount we are to include on your bill.
Loss Adjusted Usage:
All bills now show the energy usage adjusted for local system line losses. These are losses from electricity theft and losses from transmission through the local grid. Your bill has always included these line losses, but now with detailed billing these losses are explicitly shown. The Wholesale Market Services and Commodity are both calculated based on loss adjusted usage.
Demand Charges:
Demand charges apply only to customers with a monthly demand greater than 50kW. If you are classed as having an average demand over 50 kW per month, the local Distribution charge and the Provincial Transmission and Transformation charges are based on your level of peak demand.
Throughout the day, customers place different demands on the local and provincial electrical system. The electrical system must be designed to meet the maximum demand for each customer. The demand charge is levied to equitably recover the costs of having this equipment available to meet these demands. The demand charge is based on the maximum rate at which you use power during the month - measured in kilowatts and kilovolt-amps. This maximum rate of use, is defined as the peak demand sustained for 15-minutes during the billing period.
Interval Metered Accounts:
Customers who are served with metering equipment capable of recording their energy use in each 15-minute interval during the day. These "interval" meters allow us to calculate the commodity cost for each hour based on the Hourly Ontario Electricity Price (HOEP).
For customers with interval metering, the "Transmission Services" charge is also calculated based on the highest demand that occurs during the "On Peak" period. The "On Peak" period is defined as being from Monday - Friday (7 am - 7 pm) excluding public holidays.
Transformer Allowance:
If you own the transformers serving your business, you receive a discount based on the number of kilowatts demand for the month. The rate for this discount is shown on the annual rate schedule.
Multiplier:
In order to accurately and safely measure your power use, electrical meters record a fixed ratio of the total power consumed. The multiplier shown on your bill is multiplied by the change in readings to obtain the actual consumption.
Power Factor:
Electrical loads such as electric heating and incandescent lights use "resistive" power, which is measure in kilowatts. Certain types of loads, such as electric motors, however, require magnetizing current to operate. In order to properly measure the demands placed on the system by these types of uses, we must also measure demand in terms kilovolt amperes (kVA). The ratio between the kW and kVA demands (kW/kVA) is referred to as the "Power Factor".
"Power Factor" is a measure of how effectively you are using power. In calculating your bill, Ontario utilities assume that the power factor should be above 90% of the kVA demand. In short, if your power factor is less than 90%, you are paying more for all demand based charges than you need to.
A qualified electrician or energy management consultant can provide you with information on how to correct your power factor - and reduce your power costs.
Questions?
If you have any questions when you receive your statement, please e-mail or give our Customer Care Department a call.
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| CAMBRIDGE & NORTH DUMFRIES HYDRO |
| GENERAL SERVICE > 50 kW ACCOUNTS |
|
| BILLING INFORMATION: |
Billing Multiplier: |
240 |
|
|
| Previous Reading |
848 |
Demand Readings: |
500 |
Watts |
| Current Reading |
1040 |
|
580 |
Volt-Amps |
| Note: Calculation assumes that your business is served with secondary metering, owns its own transformer and is not enrolled with a Retailer for commodity purchases. |
|
Calculating Billing Quantities:
|
|
| Demand: |
| Billing Demand equals either 100% of kW or 90% of kVA, |
| whichever is higher. |
|
| Therefore: Multiply 580 VA X 0.9 = |
522 |
Watts |
|
| |
Since this is greater than the kW reading, |
| |
Billing demand equals: |
522 |
Watts |
| |
times meter multiplier |
X |
240 |
| |
divided by 1,000 watts/kW |
Resulting Billed Demand |
125.28 |
kW |
| Energy: |
|
Current Reading |
1040 |
|
minus |
Previous Reading |
848 |
|
192 |
|
times Billing Multiplier |
X |
240 |
|
| |
Resulting Actual Usage - |
46,080 |
kWh's |
| |
time Loss Adjustment factor |
1.0419 |
|
| |
Resulting Loss Adjustment Usage - |
48,011 |
kWh's |
|
Calculating Your Bill:
|
| Local Regulated Charges: |
|
| Monthly System Access Charge - |
$99.44 |
| SSS Administration Fee (only applies to customers not enrolled with a Retailer) |
$0.25 |
|
| Distribution kW Charge |
|
|
125.28 |
X |
$3.3981 |
/KW = |
$425.71 |
| Less Transformer Allowance* |
|
125.28 |
X |
$0.60 |
/KW = |
$75.17 |
|
*Note - Only applies if you own your own transformer. |
|
| Provincial Regulated Charges: |
|
| Wholesale Market Services |
$0.0062 |
/kWh X |
48,011 |
kWh = |
$297.67 |
| Transmission Services |
$2.7517 |
/kW X |
125.28 |
kW = |
$344.73 |
| Transformation Services |
$2.2119 |
/kW X |
125.28 |
kW = |
$277.11 |
| Debt Retirement Charge |
$0.0070 |
/kWh X |
46,080 |
kWh = |
$322.56 |
| |
|
| Commodity Charge: based on Spot Market Prices for Period ** |
$0.0431 |
/kWh X |
48,011 |
kWh = |
$2,069.27 |
|
|
Total Bill: |
$3,911.91 |
|
|
*Note - Commodity charge will be based on Ontario wholesale market price for SSS customers or the terms of your Retail contract if you have signed up with a Retailer. |
|
|
Power Factor = W/VA; equals |
W = |
500 W = |
86.2% |
|
VA |
580 VA |
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