Time of Day pricing for Electricity

[Greg-EE]

Has anyone ever partipacted in one of these Utility programs? (residential)
There is a program in Westchester County NY and I would like to know if
anyone has any experiences with it?

 

[albown]

Has anyone ever partipacted in one of these Utility programs? (residential)
There is a program in Westchester County NY and I would like to know if
anyone has any experiences with it?

Out here in the Phoenix area the concept has been around for 10 years for
residential.

One utility charges kw then a demand charge based on the time of day. Like
9pm to 9am is off peak 9 am to 5 pm is midpeak. 5 pm to 9 pm is high peak.
If you can avoid the high peak then you can actually save a buck or two. I
work out of my home and cooling really is not a option in the summer. I sat
down and did the math and figured out that for me I will stick the standard
rate which is a meld of the low and high. I am paying 11cents anytime.
There are rates that will get you 5 cents if you can morph your life style
to them.

Get a hold of the California rates, PGE, the one in San Diego, and do not
for get San Fransicko... (intentional). I have seen 25 line items for the
rates.


Read and heed the rate structure. Out here if you sign up your stuck for a
year. If you are gone most of the peak hours then it might help ya out.
Make one mistake and it could penalize you for a year...

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

| Has anyone ever partipacted in one of these Utility programs? (residential)
| There is a program in Westchester County NY and I would like to know if
| anyone has any experiences with it?
|

We have a similar two tier system in the UK. It ran from midnight
through to 7am and the cost was about 1/3 the normal cost. Offset
against this was the fact that peak charge was slightly more than the
normal peak cost, making it even more important to limit use during
peak times.

We used it for several years and were able to achieve some worth while
savings. Much depends upon your lifestyle and how willing or able you
are to adapt yourself to its time limitations.

We found it just about workable, providing limits were carefully
adhered to. We tended to use lots of time switches, so that things
which could be done during the off peak were done then. Washing
machines, battery charger, water heating, larger infrequently opened
freezers and etc. all set to start when off-peak was available.

You would need to sit down, work out consumption and work out what you
could manage to move to off-peak use, balance this against what you
cannot move, without causing complete chaos. One of those plug in
kilowatt hour meters might prove useful, if they are available in the
US. They can check the overall consumption of appliances one by one
over a sensible period of time.

--
Regards,
Harry (M1BYT)...

Remove the 'NOSPAM' in my email address to reply.

Free Amateur Radio Courses:-
http://www.ukradioamateur.org

 

[Cameron Dorrough]

Has anyone ever partipacted in one of these Utility programs? (residential)
There is a program in Westchester County NY and I would like to know if
anyone has any experiences with it?

Now that I think I know what you are talking about.. Most parts of OZ have
been using "off-peak" power for electric hot-water systems and the like for
the better part of 50 years (maybe longer.. dunno).

In older systems there is a separate meter for the "off peak" supply,
controlled by a time switch sealed by the power company.

In newer systems, the "off peak" supply in every house is switched remotely
by the power company using power-line carrier. This gives the power company
a bit more control over their load - kind of a residential "load shedding"
arrangement. They can even read the meter remotely using the same system,
saving a fortune in leg-work.. it's pretty neat.

HTH,
Cameron