Customer Billing & Rates

How to Understand Your Bill

How to Read Your Naka Power Electricity Bill

For more than 70 years, Naka has been safely delivering the power that lights your home, charges your phone, cooks your dinner, and washes your clothes. We provide retail, distribution, transmission, and generation services to more than 11,000 customers in nine communities in the Northwest Territories.

Our delivery rates cover the costs of delivering electricity:

  • Providing 24-hour electricity emergency response
  • System monitoring and operation to ensure a reliable delivery of electricity
  • Testing and inspecting system components to ensure safe and reliable service
  • Measuring electricity consumption through monthly meter reading
  • Providing customer service to answer questions regarding billing and electricity services. 
  • Designing and building new infrastructure to keep pace with growth
  • Maintaining and upgrading the poles, power lines, substations, meters and other facilities to provide safe and reliable service
  • We want to ensure your electricity bill is clear and makes sense to you. Since there's more to your bill than the amount due, we've created a sample bill that explains the different items that could appear on your residential bill. 

We want to ensure your electricity bill is clear and makes sense to you. Since there's more to your bill than the amount due, we've created a sample bill that explains the different items that could appear on your residential bill. 

Northland Utilities Sample Bill
Sample Bill of a Northland Utilities Customer

Bill Sections

  • 1. Bill at a Glance

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

  • 2. Readings

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

  • 3. Meter Reading Code "A"

    Indicates the actual meter reading.

    Other Reading Codes Include: 

    • B: Customer Meter Reading
    • F: Manual Estimate
    • G: Prorated From an Actual Reading
  • 4. Meter Reading Code "E"

    Indicates an estimated meter reading. 

    Other Reading Codes Include: 

    • B: Customer Meter Reading
    • F: Manual Estimate
    • G: Prorated From an Actual Reading
  • 5. Cycle Number

    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.

  • 6. Outstanding Balances

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

  • 7. Current Charges

    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 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 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 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. 
  • 8. Consumption Chart

    Overview of the energy consumed for the past 12 months.

  • 9. Total Amount Due

    Any balance outstanding from your last bill plus new charges.

  • 10. Payment Return Slip

    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.

     

  • 11. Contact Information

    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 website.

     

We're here to help

We work with our customers to help solve high bill problems year-round, not just in the winter months. If your bill is higher than expected, we’ll work with you to find a solution that may include payment arrangements. For example, we offer a Budget Payment Plan if you want to pay a fixed monthly payment and avoid those seasonal highs and lows.

Speak to one our Customer Service Advisors at 867-873-4865 (Yellowknife & N’Dilo) or 867-874-6879 or 1-800-264-5313 (Hay River & Area) or email us at:

nakapoweryk@atco.ca (Yellowknife)

nakapowernwt@atco.ca (Hay River & Area)

Frequently asked questions about electricity bills

  • Why is my energy bill so high?

    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.

     

  • Why do I pay delivery charges even if I don’t use electricity?

    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.

  • My house has been here for 40 years, I must have paid for the capital cost of the power lines by now?

    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.

  • Who regulates the rates set by Naka Power?

    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.