Over the course of 2022, ENMAX Energy developed several programs to help reduce barriers for vulnerable customers that impact or inhibit their ability to access safe and reliable electricity. The Load Limiter Pilot was one of these programs.
A load limiter is a device installed on a customer’s electric meter that reduces the flow of electricity. In accordance with the Electric Utilities Act (Alberta), owners of an electricity distribution system in Alberta cannot fully disconnect a customer's electricity service between the dates of October 1 and April 15, annually, or any other time when the temperature is forecast to be below 0 degrees Celsius in the 24 hours immediately following the proposed disconnection.
Load limiters allow use of only some appliances at a time like a furnace fan or a refrigerator and provide enough power for a few lights or charging a cell phone. Outside of the time when a load limiter must be used, customers who have not paid their outstanding account balance have their electricity disconnected.
The purpose of The Load Limiter Pilot program was to understand the outcomes of installing load limiters for regulated rate option (RRO) customers as an alternative action to disconnection. Between July and October 2022, more than 3,100 load limiters were installed for RRO customers who would otherwise have been disconnected during this time.
The results were:
- Customers with a load limiter were slower to fully reconnect: 78 per cent of RRO customers placed on a load limiter in July 2022 reconnected within 60 days, compared to 95 per cent of fully disconnected RRO customers reconnecting within 60 days the year prior.
- Customer overall satisfaction rates improved: with 85 per cent for load-limited customers versus 77 per cent for disconnected customers year-over-year.
- Customer response to the pilot included feedback such as, “Thank you for not disconnecting me fully. This is making a difference for me and my kids.” ENMAX is hoping to conduct the same pilot program in 2023 to gain further insight on this more compassionate approach to customer service.
