Hover over the numbered icons for explanations of each bill component. Click the numbered icons for even more detail.
Customers with multiple accounts may receive a consolidated bill with similar, condensed line items.
1. Your business name and service address
Your business name and service address.
2. Billing Date, Account Number(s), Pay By, Please Pay
Billing Date: Date the bill was issued.
Account Number: Your account number(s).
Pay By: Payment due date. Pay your bill by this date to avoid a late charge of 1.5% per month on unpaid amounts of $30 or more.
Please Pay: Total amount owing, which includes the current bill amount plus any outstanding balances from previous bills.
3. Invoice Number
The unique number assigned to your invoice.
4. Customer Service
Please call our Customer Service team at 604 224 9376 (in the Lower Mainland) or 1 800 224 9376 for questions about your bill.
In the case of a power outage, please call 1 888 769 3766.
If you are paying your bill by mail, please send to BC Hydro, PO Box 9501 Stn Terminal, Vancouver B.C., V6B 4N1.
5. Previous Bill
Amount due from your previous bill and payment(s) received.
Power Smart offers programs to help businesses save money and realize the benefits of energy-saving measures.
6. Basic Charge
The Basic Charge partially recovers the fixed costs of service such as metering and billing.
7. Energy Charge
With the Large General Service Conservation Rate, the Energy Charge has two parts:
Part 1 is a charge for your baseline, or average energy usage for the billing period. You pay one price for the first 14,800 kWh and a second, lower price for additional usage up to the baseline. See how your baselines were calculated.
Part 2 is a credit or charge for the difference between your actual usage and your baseline (paid in Part 1). If you use less energy than your baseline, you get a credit. If you use more than your baseline, you get a charge.
Baselines on your bill
Baselines, which reflect your average historic energy usage for each calendar month, are prorated to the billing period of your bill. Your billing period is determined by the dates your meter is read. Prorating your baselines ensures they accurately reflect your historic energy usage during your billing period.
Below are four scenarios of the energy charge on your bill:
Scenario 1: Actual usage less than baseline
In Part 1, you pay for your baseline amount of energy use (one price for the first 14,800 kWh and a second, lower price for additional usage).
When you use less energy than your baseline, you receive a Part 2 credit for the difference between your actual usage and your baseline. The Part 2 credit is priced as follows:
- For energy savings down to 20% below your baseline, you get a credit of 6.68 ¢/kWh
- For energy savings beyond 20% below your baseline, you get a credit per kWh based on Part 1 prices.
Credit amounts show a "CR" beside the dollar figure and have a negative kWh value.
Scenario 2: Actual usage more than baseline
In Part 1, you pay for your baseline amount of energy use (one price for the first 14,800 kWh and a second, lower price for additional usage).
When you use more energy than your baseline, you receive a Part 2 charge for the difference between your actual usage and your baseline. The Part 2 charge is priced as follows:
- For energy usage up to 20% above your baseline, you get a charge of 6.68 ¢/kWh
- For energy usage beyond 20% above your baseline, you get a charge per kWh based on Part 1 prices.
Scenario 3: New LGS account
To be eligible for the increased financial incentive to conserve, every LGS account must have a full year of service in order to establish baselines for each month.
For accounts with less than a year of service:
- The first 85% of energy usage is charged as follows: one price for the first 14,800 kWh of use and a lower price for additional energy usage up to 85% of your total usage
- The last 15% of usage is charged at a higher price that more closely reflects the cost of new electricity supply.
New LGS accounts pay for electricity in this manner until one year of usage has been reached. The first year of usage will then be used to calculate baselines for the second year, and the account will pay for electricity as in scenarios 1 and 2.
Scenario 4: Minimum Energy Charge
To ensure that all customers pay a fair amount for the electricity they use, a Minimum Energy Charge of 2.7 ¢/kWh
is in effect.
The Minimum Energy Charge would replace the Part 1 and Part 2 charges and credits when the sum of Part 1 and 2 divided by total kWh usage is less than 2.7 ¢/kWh.
8. Demand Charge
Expressed in kilowatts (kW), electricity demand is the rate of electricity usage. Customers with an electricity demand greater than 35 kW see a Demand Charge on their bill.
Manage your demand and save
9. Daily Average Comparison
Comparison of daily average usage per billing period with previous periods.
10. Power Factor (kVarh)
Power Factor is a measure of how effectively your equipment converts electric current from BC Hydro's system to useful power output, such as heat, light or mechanical motion.
The ratio of your usable power usage (kilowatts) to your reactive power usage (kilovar) determines your Power Factor.
When your Power Factor drops below 90%, a Power Factor surcharge is applied to cover the cost of supplying additional reactive power.
Save money by managing your power factor
11. Rate Rider
A Rate Rider is applied to the total of all charges, before taxes and levies. Amounts received from the Rate Rider are used to recover additional and unpredictable energy costs resulting from, for example, low water inflows and higher-than-forecast market prices.
12. Tax (HST)
HST (12%) is applicable on all electric charges (as denoted by an asterisk).
13. Large General Service messages
This section of the bill highlights your Part 2 credit or charge and any changes to your account.
14. Balance Payable
Total amount owing, which includes the current bill amount plus any outstanding balances from previous bills.
15. General bill messages
This section of the bill includes important information from BC Hydro.
16. Detachable portion of your bill
Detach this section of your bill and return with payment.
Please note that in the event of differences between the details noted here and the official Electric Tariff issued by BC Hydro and approved by the BCUC, the official Electric Tariff will prevail.
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