diff --git a/src/monitoring/cloud/aws-cost-collector.service.ts b/src/monitoring/cloud/aws-cost-collector.service.ts
index be0f6e5f..7c8b058c 100644
--- a/src/monitoring/cloud/aws-cost-collector.service.ts
+++ b/src/monitoring/cloud/aws-cost-collector.service.ts
@@ -1,71 +1,100 @@
 import { Injectable, Logger, OnModuleInit } from '@nestjs/common';
-import { Cron, CronExpression } from '@nestjs/schedule';
-import { CostTrackingService } from '../cost-tracking.service';
 
 /**
- * AWS Cost Explorer collector
- * - Requires @aws-sdk/client-cost-explorer and credentials with Cost Explorer read access.
- * - If the SDK or credentials aren't available, the service logs and no-ops.
+ * The result returned by a successful Cost Explorer fetch.
+ * `billingPeriod` is the ISO-8601 date range that the amount covers,
+ * formatted as "YYYY-MM-DD/YYYY-MM-DD" (start inclusive, end exclusive),
+ * matching the TimePeriod convention used by Cost Explorer.
+ */
+export interface HourlyCostResult {
+  /** Sum of UnblendedCost in USD for the queried period. */
+  amount: number;
+  /** ISO-8601 billing period: "YYYY-MM-DD/YYYY-MM-DD". */
+  billingPeriod: string;
+}
+
+/**
+ * AWS Cost Explorer collector.
+ *
+ * Fetches the previous hour's UnblendedCost from AWS Cost Explorer and returns
+ * a {@link HourlyCostResult}.  The caller is responsible for recording the
+ * metric; this service only fetches data.
+ *
+ * Requirements:
+ *  - `@aws-sdk/client-cost-explorer` installed.
+ *  - AWS credentials with `ce:GetCostAndUsage` permission.
+ *  - `AWS_REGION` env var (defaults to `us-east-1`).
+ *
+ * If the SDK is unavailable or credentials are not configured, the service
+ * marks itself disabled and `collectHourlyCost()` returns `null`.
  */
 @Injectable()
 export class AwsCostCollectorService implements OnModuleInit {
   private readonly logger = new Logger(AwsCostCollectorService.name);
   private enabled = false;
+  // eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-explicit-any
   private client: any;
 
-  constructor(private readonly costService: CostTrackingService) {}
-
   async onModuleInit() {
-    // Try to lazily load the AWS Cost Explorer client
     try {
       const { CostExplorerClient } = await import('@aws-sdk/client-cost-explorer');
-      const region = process.env.AWS_REGION || 'us-east-1';
+      const region = process.env.AWS_REGION ?? 'us-east-1';
       this.client = new CostExplorerClient({ region });
       this.enabled = true;
     } catch (_err) {
       this.logger.warn('AWS Cost Explorer client not available — AWS cost collection disabled');
-      this.enabled = false;
     }
   }
 
-  @Cron(CronExpression.EVERY_HOUR)
-  async collectHourlyCost() {
-    if (!this.enabled) return;
+  /**
+   * Fetches the previous hour's cost from AWS Cost Explorer.
+   *
+   * Returns a {@link HourlyCostResult} on success, or `null` when the
+   * collector is disabled or the API call fails.  The caller should treat
+   * `null` as a transient failure and **not** overwrite the last known metric.
+   */
+  async collectHourlyCost(): Promise<HourlyCostResult | null> {
+    if (!this.enabled) {
+      this.logger.debug('Cost collection skipped — collector is disabled');
+      return null;
+    }
 
     try {
       const now = new Date();
-      const end = new Date(now.getTime());
-      const start = new Date(now.getTime() - 1000 * 60 * 60); // last hour
+      // Cost Explorer date strings are YYYY-MM-DD; end is exclusive so we use
+      // today's date and start is yesterday to capture the last 24-hour window.
+      // For hourly granularity the API returns the window that covers "now - 1 h".
+      const end = now.toISOString().slice(0, 10);
+      const startDate = new Date(now.getTime() - 1000 * 60 * 60);
+      const start = startDate.toISOString().slice(0, 10);
 
       const { GetCostAndUsageCommand, Granularity } = await import('@aws-sdk/client-cost-explorer');
 
-      const params = {
-        TimePeriod: {
-          Start: start.toISOString().slice(0, 10),
-          End: end.toISOString().slice(0, 10),
-        },
+      const cmd = new GetCostAndUsageCommand({
+        TimePeriod: { Start: start, End: end },
         Granularity: Granularity.HOURLY,
         Metrics: ['UnblendedCost'],
-      };
+      });
 
-      const cmd = new GetCostAndUsageCommand(params);
       const resp = await this.client.send(cmd);
 
-      // Parse response: sum hourly amounts for the last hour (if available)
-      // The response structure includes ResultsByTime[] with Metrics.UnblendedCost.Amount
+      // Sum all returned hourly buckets (typically one when start === end).
       let amount = 0;
-      const results = resp.ResultsByTime || [];
+      const results: unknown[] = resp.ResultsByTime ?? [];
       for (const r of results) {
-        const m = r?.Total?.UnblendedCost?.Amount;
-        const v = parseFloat(m || '0');
+        const row = r as Record<string, unknown>;
+        const total = row?.Total as Record<string, unknown> | undefined;
+        const raw = (total?.UnblendedCost as Record<string, unknown> | undefined)?.Amount;
+        const v = parseFloat((raw as string) || '0');
         if (!Number.isNaN(v)) amount += v;
       }
 
-      // If AWS returns zero, still record the metric so dashboards populate
-      this.costService.recordHourlyCost(amount);
-      this.logger.log(`Recorded AWS hourly cost: $${amount.toFixed(4)}`);
+      const billingPeriod = `${start}/${end}`;
+      this.logger.debug(`Fetched AWS hourly cost: $${amount.toFixed(4)} for ${billingPeriod}`);
+      return { amount, billingPeriod };
     } catch (err) {
-      this.logger.error('Error collecting AWS cost', err as Error);
+      this.logger.error('Error fetching AWS cost from Cost Explorer', err as Error);
+      return null;
     }
   }
 }
diff --git a/src/monitoring/cost-scheduler.service.ts b/src/monitoring/cost-scheduler.service.ts
index f7667396..c5fe0952 100644
--- a/src/monitoring/cost-scheduler.service.ts
+++ b/src/monitoring/cost-scheduler.service.ts
@@ -1,23 +1,58 @@
 import { Injectable, Logger } from '@nestjs/common';
 import { Cron, CronExpression } from '@nestjs/schedule';
+import { Counter } from 'prom-client';
+import { AwsCostCollectorService } from './cloud/aws-cost-collector.service';
 import { CostTrackingService } from './cost-tracking.service';
+import { MetricsCollectionService } from './metrics/metrics-collection.service';
 
+/**
+ * CostSchedulerService
+ *
+ * Drives the hourly cost collection cycle:
+ *  1. Delegates the AWS Cost Explorer fetch to {@link AwsCostCollectorService}.
+ *  2. On success, records the real amount and billing period via
+ *     {@link CostTrackingService}.
+ *  3. On failure (collector returns `null`), leaves the previous metric value
+ *     unchanged and increments the `cost_collection_failures_total` counter so
+ *     the outage is visible in dashboards and alerts.
+ */
 @Injectable()
 export class CostSchedulerService {
   private readonly logger = new Logger(CostSchedulerService.name);
 
-  constructor(private readonly costService: CostTrackingService) {}
+  /** Counts how many hourly collection cycles have failed since startup. */
+  private readonly collectionFailures: Counter;
+
+  constructor(
+    private readonly costCollector: AwsCostCollectorService,
+    private readonly costService: CostTrackingService,
+    metricsService: MetricsCollectionService,
+  ) {
+    this.collectionFailures = new Counter({
+      name: 'cost_collection_failures_total',
+      help: 'Total number of hourly cost collection cycles that failed to retrieve data from the cloud provider',
+      registers: [metricsService.getRegistry()],
+    });
+  }
 
-  // Every hour record a placeholder cost (0) — replace with real cloud billing pull
   @Cron(CronExpression.EVERY_HOUR)
-  async recordHourlyCost() {
-    try {
-      // TODO: Replace with real billing amount pulled from cloud provider API
-      const estimatedHourlyCostUsd = 0;
-      this.costService.recordHourlyCost(estimatedHourlyCostUsd);
-      this.logger.debug(`Recorded hourly cost: $${estimatedHourlyCostUsd}`);
-    } catch (err) {
-      this.logger.error('Failed to record hourly cost', err as Error);
+  async recordHourlyCost(): Promise<void> {
+    const result = await this.costCollector.collectHourlyCost();
+
+    if (result === null) {
+      // The collector encountered an error or is disabled — do not publish a
+      // fabricated value.  Increment the failure counter so monitoring rules
+      // can alert when collections are consistently missing.
+      this.collectionFailures.inc();
+      this.logger.warn(
+        'Hourly cost collection failed — metric not updated; previous value retained',
+      );
+      return;
     }
+
+    await this.costService.recordHourlyCost(result.amount, result.billingPeriod);
+    this.logger.log(
+      `Recorded hourly cost: $${result.amount.toFixed(4)} (billing period: ${result.billingPeriod})`,
+    );
   }
 }