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Last month I got a letter from Georgia Power offering a Time of Use option. Here's how it works:
October through May, you pay just under 4 cents per kWh
June through September, Monday through Friday, 2PM to 7PM, you pay just over 17.5 cents per kWh
Off peak times (nights and weekends), you pay just under 4 cents per kWh
Details of Time of Use Program
Here is my take:
The winter months are about the same for the standard program or the time of use. The standard program is 4.5 cents for the first 650kWh and under 4 cents after that.
The summer months depend on your habits. The standard program is 4.5 cents for the first 650kWh and then it jumps to 7.5 cents. Your average cost per kWh will end up somewhere in between there depending on how much electricity you use (the more you use during those months, they higher your average cost will be).
Details of the Standard GA Power Plan
The "peak" times in the summer are only 5 hours per day, 5 days per week, for 4 months out of the year. Not very many hours. But they're the most expensive hours of the year. Most of your electricity cost comes from your air conditioning. An easy rough way to calculate your A/C expense if you have gas heat is to compare your summer electricity bills to your winter electricity bills. And 2PM to 7PM in the summer are the most expensive hours of the day to run the A/C. The Time of Use program works well if you work during the day and can turn lights off and scale back the A/C. Then turn it back on at 7PM. Otherwise, you're likely to break even or lose with this new deal.
I can't tell you for sure which plan is best for you. Georgia Power did a good job making both plans fairly even. But I think it is interesting what they're doing. They reach maximum capacity during those hours in the summer, when businesses are all running and A/Cs are cranked up high everywhere. Rather than build new power plants to support demand, why not give incentives to people who can shift their usage to times when the power plants aren't at capacity.
After lots of assumptions and analysis, I signed up for the program (and agreed to stay on it for 12 months). I think I will save money or at least not lose, but I did it as much out of curiosity as anything. I'll keep you posted on my findings this summer.
I think in the future though, this program will become the standard, rather than an option. Georgia Power is installing Smart Meters throughout their territories which will make it possible for them to charge everyone the Time of Use rates. I guess in the meantime, we should all think about ways to shift electricity usage to "off peak" hours.
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