November 17, 2025 Sent via email
Suite 410, 900 Howe Street Vancouver, BC Canada V6Z 2N3 bcuc.com
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Letter L-33-25
Re: Metergy Solutions Inc. – Complaint filed by C.M. – British Columbia Utilities Commission Decision Dear : The British Columbia Utilities Commission (BCUC) writes regarding your complaint (Complaint), submitted on January 21, 2025, regarding alleged overbilling by Metergy Solutions Inc. (Metergy) for domestic hot water (DHW) heating at (Building). In the Complaint, you note that Metergy’s billed rate for DHW heating fluctuated from $5.09 per cubic metre to $13.30 per cubic metre between June and November 2024 despite no changes to the City of Vancouver’s (CoV) Neighbourhood Energy Utility (NEU) rates, and that Metergy’s corrected rates communicated to Building residents in March 2025, approximately $3.73 to $3.91 per cubic metre, remain inconsistent with the NEU’s approved rates.
When the BCUC reviews complaints, it considers whether the utility reasonably responded to the customer’s concern(s) and whether the utility followed its approved tariff and the Utilities Commission Act (UCA). The BCUC is an independent regulatory agency of the Provincial Government that operates under and administers the UCA.
Based on our review of your Complaint and related correspondence provided in this matter, the BCUC dismisses this complaint, finding that both the NEU, a municipally operated entity, and Metergy, a billing service provider that does not meet the statutory definition of a public utility, are not subject to regulation under the UCA.
This letter outlines the BCUC’s review process, and then provides a summary of your Complaint, the issues raised, the BCUC’s review of each issue, and potential next steps you can take.
Review Process The BCUC initiated the complaints process on January 22, 2025 following receipt of the Complaint. The BCUC issued questions in sequence to CoV/NEU, followed by COHO Management Services (the Building’s property manager), and then to Metergy. The Complainant and Metergy filed additional correspondence with the BCUC between January 23, 2025 and July 25, 2025.
Background The NEU is a municipally owned and operated energy utility providing low-carbon thermal energy for space heating and hot water to buildings in Southeast False Creek, parts of Mount Pleasant, and the False Creek Flats
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area in Vancouver. CoV operates the NEU with direct control over investment decision making, rate setting greenhouse gas performance targets.
1 and
The Complainant is a member of a multi-unit housing cooperative in Vancouver that is managed by COHO Management Services. The NEU provides heating energy service to the Building and issues monthly bills to the Building. The Building has contracted Metergy to provide meter reading, billing and collection services on behalf of the Building owner, Community Land Trust East 1 st Community Society. Metergy has a service agreement with the Building’s owner to provide this service. The Complainant is issued a bill for space heating and DHW every two months. Prior to Metergy’s involvement in June 2024, the Building was served by two billing providers, Quadlogic Meters Canada Inc. (QMC) and UtilityBillCo, with Metergy acquiring QMC in 2022.
Complaint Your position In the Complaint, you submit that your invoices from June to November 2024 displayed large and unexplained fluctuations in DHW unit costs despite the absence of any NEU rate changes, and that your October to November 2024 bill was approximately 149 percent higher than prior periods. You further submit that Metergy’s March 2025 corrected rates do not align with NEU rates, and that Metergy has not provided a transparent explanation of how your unit-level charges are derived from the NEU’s posted rates. You also allege a pattern of historical overbilling under Metergy’s predecessor, Quadlogic Meters Canada Inc., since 2018, which you contend has resulted in cumulative overcharges in the high five figures and reflects a systemic problem across the Building’s multiple billing providers.
Metergy’s position Metergy states it does not operate as a public utility because it does not own or operate the Building’s submetering equipment and does not set or control the NEU’s wholesale utility rates. Rather, Metergy’s sole responsibility with respect to the Building is to provide meter reading, billing and collection services on behalf of the Building owner. Metergy explains that ownership and maintenance of submeters rest with the Building owner, and that it may facilitate repairs only at the Building’s cost and approval.
Metergy acknowledges that the June to November 2024 overbilling resulted from a billing oversight that has since been corrected, and that it applied credits, waived late fees, and carried forward any positive balances. Metergy further explains that apparent mismatches with the NEU’s published rates arise from different units of measure, because the NEU posts rates in dollars per kilowatt-hour while Metergy invoices DHW on a dollars per cubic metre basis. Metergy describes a building-level allocation method in which the DHW rate per cubic metre equals the total building DHW cost divided by total resident DHW consumption, with total DHW cost equal to the energy used to heat water multiplied by the NEU rate. Under this methodology, the per cubic metre rate is likely to vary month to month even if the NEU’s dollars per kilowatt-hour rate is unchanged, because the energy required to achieve and maintain the DHW temperature for the Building and aggregate consumption patterns change over time.
Determination The BCUC has reviewed the Complaint and the submissions provided by the parties. The BCUC finds that it lacks jurisdiction to adjudicate the Complaint. For the reasons that follow, the Complaint is dismissed.
A public utility is defined under the UCA as […] a person, or the person's lessee, trustee, receiver or liquidator, who owns or operates in British Columbia, equipment or facilities for the production, generation, storage, transmission, sale, delivery or provision of electricity, natural gas, steam or any other agent for the production of light, heat, cold or power to or for the public
1 All annual NEU rate changes are reviewed by an independent panel and approved by the Vancouver City Council; NEU Connectivity Guidelines & Requirements, Section 2.5, p. 5.
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or a corporation for compensation […] but does not include a municipality or regional district in respect of services provided by the municipality or regional district within its own boundaries. 2
On the facts before the BCUC, the NEU is owned and operated by CoV and provides utility services within the CoV boundaries and is therefore excluded from BCUC regulation under the UCA. Further, Metergy is not acting as a public utility under the UCA because it does not own or operate the submetering equipment or the energy system at the Building, does not supply energy for compensation, and acts solely as a billing service provider. On this basis, the BCUC finds that Metergy does not meet the statutory definition of a public utility under the UCA and is not subject to BCUC regulation.
Accordingly, the Complaint is dismissed, and your file is now closed. Office of the Ombudsperson If you have concerns about how the BCUC handled your Complaint, you may wish to contact the Office of the Ombudsperson. The Office of the Ombudsperson receives enquiries and complaints about the practices and services of public agencies within its jurisdiction. Its role is to impartially investigate complaints to determine whether public agencies have acted fairly and reasonably, and whether their actions and decisions were consistent with relevant legislation, policies and procedures.
If you decide to file a complaint with the Ombudsperson, it will review the BCUC’s process to ensure it was fair. Though this may not result in a different outcome for you, the Ombudsperson could request that the BCUC reopen its investigation. Provided is a link to the Office of the Ombudsperson’s website: https://www.bcombudsperson.ca.
Sincerely, Electronically signed by Elizabeth A. (Lisa) Brown E. A. Brown Commissioner
DC/jm cc:
Chelsea.provencher@metergysolutions.com
2 See paragraph (c) of the definition of “public utility” in section 1 of the UCA Metergy Solutions Inc. – Complaint filed by C.M. | BCUC Decision
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