davenlei
New member
So which is better for the majority of people where everyone is gone during the day (work/school)?
I was looking at my electric bill and it is very contradictory. Although I am ranked in the category of the most efficient households based on electricity usage for size of home I have against other homes in my area, I always hit the significantly more expensive tier 3 and sometimes tier 4 cost levels. How is that possible? My usage is listed as super efficient but I am paying top tier usage rates?
So I began looking into what options there are. SCE and SDGE do offer TOU plans but they are very hard to find on their site (seems like they want to discourage it). The TOU concept rates seem to really benefit people who are gone during the day and use the majority of their electricity during the evening/night. SCE looks like they are 'full' and not allowing anyone new into the plan and SDGE are still allowing people in. In addition, if you have an electric vehicle, you can get on an even better TOU plan that does not have any tier structure.
I took my bill and did a quick napkin analysis of my KWh usage in the 'peak' TOU timeframe and it is marginal (~0.3 KWh from 12p-6p) when compared to my 'off peak' usage when lights/TV/spa pumps are on (~1.1 KWh) during the evening hours. Late night hours are in the ~0.3 range as well. From that, it looks like TOU plan would benefit me greatly. I called SDGE and lo and behold, non EV-TOU still has a tier applied along with the TOU. The representative I spoke to said it is an altered tier/pricing, etc. The only relief from the tier levels are if you are an EV owner. With EV-TOU you get a non-tier plan that is applied to your overall energy use. I don't have an EV but am considering it due to a possible job change that will require long commutes.
It looks as if I may benefit from going to the TOU plan but want to know if anyone else has gone the TOU plan (EV TOU or non EV TOU) and provide info on their experience with their bills going up or down.
I was looking at my electric bill and it is very contradictory. Although I am ranked in the category of the most efficient households based on electricity usage for size of home I have against other homes in my area, I always hit the significantly more expensive tier 3 and sometimes tier 4 cost levels. How is that possible? My usage is listed as super efficient but I am paying top tier usage rates?
So I began looking into what options there are. SCE and SDGE do offer TOU plans but they are very hard to find on their site (seems like they want to discourage it). The TOU concept rates seem to really benefit people who are gone during the day and use the majority of their electricity during the evening/night. SCE looks like they are 'full' and not allowing anyone new into the plan and SDGE are still allowing people in. In addition, if you have an electric vehicle, you can get on an even better TOU plan that does not have any tier structure.
I took my bill and did a quick napkin analysis of my KWh usage in the 'peak' TOU timeframe and it is marginal (~0.3 KWh from 12p-6p) when compared to my 'off peak' usage when lights/TV/spa pumps are on (~1.1 KWh) during the evening hours. Late night hours are in the ~0.3 range as well. From that, it looks like TOU plan would benefit me greatly. I called SDGE and lo and behold, non EV-TOU still has a tier applied along with the TOU. The representative I spoke to said it is an altered tier/pricing, etc. The only relief from the tier levels are if you are an EV owner. With EV-TOU you get a non-tier plan that is applied to your overall energy use. I don't have an EV but am considering it due to a possible job change that will require long commutes.
It looks as if I may benefit from going to the TOU plan but want to know if anyone else has gone the TOU plan (EV TOU or non EV TOU) and provide info on their experience with their bills going up or down.
