Alberta Energy Market Report · Issue #3
Alberta Energy Market Report - Week of September 14, 2026
Published Tuesday, September 22, 2026 · Data through Sunday, September 20, 2026 · 4 min read
A short weekly data post: where Alberta's wholesale electricity market sat last week, what the regulated default rate is, and what the energy portion of a typical household month costs on the Rate of Last Resort versus Bright Fire's 1-year fixed rate. Same structure every week; only the numbers change. Every issue is archived with a permanent link in the Alberta Energy Market Report archive.
1. The Market This Week
AESO 30-day average pool price
4.25¢/kWh
$42.50/MWh · 30 days ending Sun Sept 20 (prior week's reading: 4.52¢)
Last week's daily range
1.33¢ to 9.62¢
Low Sun Sept 20, high Thu Sept 17 · week average 3.86¢ (prior week 1.71¢)
Regulated default (Rate of Last Resort)
12.01 to 12.06¢/kWh
Set by zone until December 31, 2026 (Utilities Consumer Advocate)
Bright Fire 1-year fixed
8.29¢/kWh
Current rate on our rates page · $9.99/month administration fee applies
The market this week: AESO's 30-day average pool price sits near 4.25 cents/kWh. Daily averages last week ranged from about 1.33 cents (Sunday September 20) to 9.62 cents (Thursday September 17), and the week as a whole averaged 3.86 cents against 1.71 cents the week before. The 30-day average eased to 4.25 cents from 4.52 cents a week earlier. September to date (September 1 to 20) averages 3.07 cents/kWh; August's full-month average was 4.57 cents/kWh, the figure shown in the market table on our rates page.
| Day | Daily average | Lowest hour | Highest hour | Peak demand (MW) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mon 9/14 | 1.39¢ | 0.00¢ | 7.85¢ | 10,454 |
| Tue 9/15 | 5.60¢ | 3.45¢ | 14.59¢ | 10,214 |
| Wed 9/16 | 2.82¢ | 0.17¢ | 6.84¢ | 10,259 |
| Thu 9/17 | 9.62¢ | 0.00¢ | 71.58¢ | 10,500 |
| Fri 9/18 | 4.58¢ | 2.45¢ | 9.86¢ | 10,374 |
| Sat 9/19 | 1.66¢ | 0.00¢ | 2.69¢ | 10,214 |
| Sun 9/20 | 1.33¢ | 0.00¢ | 5.95¢ | 10,513 |
AESO hourly pool price in cents/kWh ($/MWh divided by 10), simple average of the 24 hours in each day. Peak demand = highest hourly Alberta Internal Load. Source: AESO Pool Price Report (ets.aeso.ca), retrieved September 21, 2026.
The regulated default (Rate of Last Resort): 12.01 cents/kWh in EPCOR Energy Alberta / FortisAlberta areas, 12.02 cents in ATCO Electric areas and 12.06 cents in Calgary, set until December 31, 2026. Source: Utilities Consumer Advocate, default rates table.
2. Alberta Bill Index (energy portion only, 600 kWh)
The energy-only portion of a typical household month (600 kWh) priced at the Rate of Last Resort in each utility zone and at Bright Fire's current 1-year fixed rate of 8.29 cents/kWh.
| Utility zone | RoLR | 600 kWh on the RoLR | 600 kWh on Bright Fire 1-year fixed | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EPCOR Energy Alberta / FortisAlberta areas | 12.01¢ | $72.06 | $49.74 | $22.32 |
| ATCO Electric areas | 12.02¢ | $72.12 | $49.74 | $22.38 |
| Calgary (ENMAX Power wires area) | 12.06¢ | $72.36 | $49.74 | $22.62 |
What the index does and does not include
Energy charge only: 600 kWh multiplied by the rate. Delivery and transmission charges are set by your local wires company and are the same on every retailer, so they are not included. Administration fees (Bright Fire's is $9.99/month), rate riders, other retailer fees and GST are also not included, so these are not full bill totals. Variable plans are deliberately excluded from the bill math: a variable rate moves with the monthly market price, so comparing it with a fixed regulated rate is not apples-to-apples. The pool price in section 1 is reported separately as market data only. Your own usage will differ from 600 kWh.
3. What Moved This Week
- One evening carried the week. Thursday September 17 had five consecutive hours at or above $100/MWh, from the 7 p.m. hour through the 11 p.m. hour, including the week's highest hour at $715.78/MWh (71.58 cents/kWh) in the 8 p.m. hour. A sixth hour above $100/MWh came in the 2 p.m. hour on Tuesday September 15 ($145.87/MWh). The week before had no hours at or above $100/MWh.
- Outside those hours, prices stayed low. 16 hours settled at $0.00/MWh (17 the week before): six in a row on Monday September 14 from the 1 p.m. through 6 p.m. hours, seven from late Saturday September 19 into early Sunday September 20, two mid-morning on Sunday and one early Thursday. Four of the seven days averaged under 3 cents/kWh, and the week as a whole averaged 3.86 cents against 1.71 cents the week before.
- Demand was flat. Alberta Internal Load peaked at 10,513 MW on Sunday September 20 in the 6 p.m. hour, compared with 10,740 MW the week before (Wednesday September 9). Average hourly demand was 9,734 MW, essentially unchanged from 9,701 MW the week before.
All three points are read directly from the AESO Pool Price Report (hourly price and Alberta Internal Load). This report does not forecast prices and does not explain individual price hours; AESO publishes its own market commentary.
4. Definitions, Sources and Notes
- Pool price: the hourly wholesale price of electricity in Alberta, set by the Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO), in $/MWh. Divide by 10 for cents/kWh. It is market data, not a retail rate.
- 30-day average: AESO's 30-day rolling average pool price at the last hour of Sunday, September 20, 2026 ($42.50/MWh). It equals the simple average of the 720 hourly prices from August 22 to September 20, 2026.
- Daily average and weekly average: simple averages of the 24 and 168 hourly pool prices for the day and the Monday-to-Sunday week.
- Rate of Last Resort (RoLR): Alberta's regulated default electricity rate for customers who have not chosen a competitive retailer (formerly the Regulated Rate Option). Set per zone until December 31, 2026.
- Alberta Bill Index: 600 kWh multiplied by the RoLR for each zone, and by Bright Fire's current 1-year fixed rate. Energy charge only; see the note above.
- Sources: AESO Pool Price Report (hourly pool price, 30-day average and Alberta Internal Load; retrieved September 21, 2026); Utilities Consumer Advocate default rates (RoLR by zone, retrieved September 21, 2026); Bright Fire rates page (1-year fixed 8.29 cents/kWh as of September 21, 2026).
- Machine-readable copy: every number in this issue is also published as JSON. Past issues: report archive.
- Past market prices do not predict future ones. Nothing in this report is a forecast or a guarantee of what any household will pay. Bright Fire Energy is a trade name of Sponsor Energy Inc. Sponsor Energy is a licensed retailer of electricity (Licence #343969) and natural gas (Licence #343970) in the Province of Alberta. Compare any plan, including ours, on the Utilities Consumer Advocate's Cost Comparison Tool. If you choose Bright Fire, you can sign up online in as little as 4 minutes.