Alberta Energy Market Report · Issue #5
Alberta Energy Market Report - Week of September 28, 2026
Published Tuesday, October 6, 2026 · Data through Sunday, October 4, 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
3.02¢/kWh
$30.17/MWh · 30 days ending Sun Oct 4 (prior week's reading: 3.01¢)
Last week's daily range
1.45¢ to 9.33¢
Low Tue Sept 29, high Thu Oct 1 · week average 3.99¢ (prior week 2.56¢)
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 · $9.99/month administration fee applies
The market this week: AESO's 30-day average pool price sits near 3.02 cents/kWh. Daily averages last week ranged from about 1.45 cents (Tuesday September 29) to 9.33 cents (Thursday October 1), and the week as a whole averaged 3.99 cents against 2.56 cents the week before. September's full-month average was 2.94 cents/kWh, the figure now shown in the market table on our rates page; October to date (October 1 to 4) averages 4.76 cents/kWh.
| Day | Daily average | Lowest hour | Highest hour | Peak demand (MW) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mon 9/28 | 3.20¢ | 0.49¢ | 7.99¢ | 10,572 |
| Tue 9/29 | 1.45¢ | 0.00¢ | 2.72¢ | 10,583 |
| Wed 9/30 | 4.23¢ | 1.96¢ | 9.49¢ | 10,516 |
| Thu 10/1 | 9.33¢ | 1.80¢ | 40.34¢ | 10,371 |
| Fri 10/2 | 3.00¢ | 1.63¢ | 7.11¢ | 10,476 |
| Sat 10/3 | 4.18¢ | 2.28¢ | 9.00¢ | 10,187 |
| Sun 10/4 | 2.51¢ | 1.53¢ | 5.34¢ | 10,622 |
AESO hourly pool price in cents/kWh ($/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 October 5, 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
- Thursday October 1 carried the week. Seven hours settled at or above $100/MWh, all on Thursday October 1: two in the morning (8 and 9 a.m. hours) and five in the evening (5 to 9 p.m. hours), compared with none the week before. The highest single hour was $403.41/MWh (40.34 cents/kWh) in the 7 p.m. hour, and Thursday averaged 9.33 cents/kWh, the week's highest day.
- The weekly average rose; the 30-day average held steady. The weekly average was 3.99 cents/kWh, up from 2.56 cents the week before. The rolling 30-day average was 3.02 cents/kWh, essentially unchanged from 3.01 cents a week earlier. Daily averages ran from 1.45 cents/kWh (Tuesday September 29) to 9.33 cents/kWh (Thursday October 1). Two hours settled at $0.00/MWh, both overnight early Tuesday September 29.
- Demand edged up. Alberta Internal Load peaked at 10,622 MW on Sunday October 4 in the 8 p.m. hour, compared with a peak of 10,877 MW the week before. Average hourly demand was about 1% higher than the prior week (10,001 MW vs 9,866 MW).
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, October 4, 2026 ($30.17/MWh). It equals the simple average of the 720 hourly prices from September 5 to October 4, 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 October 5, 2026); Utilities Consumer Advocate default rates (RoLR by zone, retrieved October 5, 2026); Bright Fire rates page (1-year fixed 8.29 cents/kWh as of October 5, 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.