How to Understand Your Bill

This section shows you your account number, bill payment due date and total amount due for payment.

Your meter readings that indicate how much energy was used during the billing period.

Indicates the actual meter reading.

Other Reading Codes Include: 

• B: Customer Meter Reading
• F: Manual Estimate
• G: Prorated From an Actual Reading

Indicates an estimated meter reading. 

Other Reading Codes Include: 

• B: Customer Meter Reading
• F: Manual Estimate
• G: Prorated From an Actual Reading

This tells you which billing cycle you're on and determines the dates used to read your meter and complete your billing for each month.

This shows if you have any amount owing from your previous bill and any payments or adjustments since we issued your last bill.

This shows the various charges on your energy bill.

• Customer Charge - A fixed charge to residential customers to cover a portion of the costs of electric facilities such as power lines, generating plants (NWT only; Northwest Territories Power Corporation owns the generation plant in Yellowknife), substations and metering (whether you use any electricity or not).
• Demand Charge - This charge applies to general service customers and is based on the higher of your actual demand or 75% of your highest demand for power reached during a 12-month period, regardless of total energy used. The demand/capacity charge is intended to pay for the costs of building and maintaining those facilities that Naka Power (Utilities) needs to have available to meet peak electricity needs.
• Energy Charge - This is the cost of the electricity used during the period covered by this bill.
• Purchase Power Cost Adjustment - This may be a surcharge, a refund or an interim rate adjustment as approved by the NWT Public Utilities Board. It reflects the changes in purchased power costs charged to Naka Power (Utilities) by NPTC.
• Revenue Adjustment Rider - This may be a surcharge, a refund or an interim rate adjustment as approved by the NWT Public Utilities Board.
• Fuel Adjustment Rider - This adjustment represents the difference between the total cost of the fuel and electricity purchased from other companies and those fuel costs included in the energy charge. It may appear as a charge or a refund as approved by the NWT Public Utilities Board.
• Franchise Fee - This charge is approved by the NWT Public Utilities Board and paid to the municipality by Naka Power (Utilities) for the right to distribute electricity within the city.
• Territorial Power Subsidy Program (TPSP) - Offered to residential customers by the TPSP, this subsidy provides rate relief on the first 1000 kWhs used per month from Sept 1 to Mar 31 and the first 600 kWhs used per month from Apr 1 to Aug 31. This subsidy ensures that customers pay the same base electricity rate as Yellowknife.
• GNWT Rate Equalization Program (GREP) - The GREP ensures that NUL thermal non-government customers are paying the same effective energy rates as NTPC’s thermal zone non-government customers.
• GST – Government of Canada Goods and Services Tax. 

Overview of the energy consumed for the past 12 months.

Any balance outstanding from your last bill plus new charges.

This slip gives your account number, bill due date and total amount due. If you receive a paper bill and either mail your payment or pay in person at your financial institution, include the return slip. For more information on how you can pay your bill, visit ways to pay your bill.

We’re here to help if you have questions about your bill.

Call us at 867-873-4865 (Yellowknife & N’Dilo) or 867-874-6879 or 1-800-264-5313 (Hay River & Area), or visit the Naka Power (Utilities) website.

Your electricity bill is impacted by several factors.

Temperatures
Colder and warmer temperatures can mean higher bills since it takes more electricity to heat or cool your home or building. That's why you may see your electricity bills fluctuate each month depending on how much energy you use in these colder or warmer months.

Additional appliances
Increased electricity use can also happen if you’ve added portable heaters, air conditioners or other appliances like TVs to your home or business.

Poor insulation
Older homes or buildings are usually less able to keep the heat in. Poor insulation in basements and crawl spaces, or improper window and door seals, can make it costly to heat. Find out about more energy saving tips!

Guests
Guests staying over or more people living in your home can lead to the increased use of electricity since more people equals more lights on, charging of electronics and more hot water to take showers or do laundry.

Even if you don’t use electricity, the poles, wires, substations and meters are there in case you need them. It’s like having cable TV or telephone services. You pay a fixed fee so you can watch TV or use the phone whenever you want.

Over the years you’ve probably paid the initial capital costs to install the power service; however, all electric facilities have ongoing capital costs. To maintain safe, reliable electricity, your power lines need to be upgraded and rebuilt as time goes on. It’s like financing a new car with a loan to be paid off over 12 years. By the time the loan is paid off, you’ll probably need to buy a new car or pay to upgrade the old one.

Our rates are regulated by the NWT Public Utilities Board to ensure our rates are fair and reasonable. Our rates (tariffs) we charge are all approved by the board in an open, public process. Our costs are fully transparent and any changes to its rates are subject to a formal process which includes scrutiny by customers, municipalities and other users.

A typical billing cycle is between 27-30 days, however there are times when the cycles exceed 27-30 days (e.g., January bills typically include charges for 32-35 days of consumption).  Billing statements always indicate how many consumption days are included.

Over the past several years, we've seen a significant increase of more people at home using power. There are more electronics and appliances in our homes that consume power without you knowing.

Try these effective ways to lower your bill:

• Set your thermostat to efficiently warm and cool your home
• Take shorter showers
• Wash clothes in warm or cold water
• Adjust the temperature on your water heater
• Purchase energy-efficient appliances
• Switch to LED lighting
• Install dimmer switches
• Unplug appliances that aren’t in use

In the Snare and Taltson Hydro Zones, Naka Power Utilities (Yellowknife) and Naka Power Utilities (NWT) purchases power generated by NTPC at a wholesale rate. NTPC charges Naka-YK & Naka-NWT for costs related to the generation and transmission of electricity into these zones. The wholesale rates NTPC chargers Naka are approved by the PUB. 

This means, that Naka-YK & Naka-NWT receives a bill from NTPC for wholesale power each month in the same way other customers receive their monthly electricity bills. Naka-YK and Naka-NWT must recover this cost, which is reflected in your monthly electricity bills as a Rider. This could be a surcharge, refund or interim rate adjustment approved by the PUB.

The wholesale power costs that NTPC charges Naka-YK and Naka-NWT are flowed through to customers. This cost is NOT marked up and Naka-YK and Naka-NWT does not make a profit on wholesale power purchased from NTPC.