CA (& others) rate tiers

[GTOGreg]

Can anyone on the board make horse sense of the 5 tier rate plan PG&E has in place? I know that many other states have 3 tier systems. Net it out...when is the cheapest time to use electricity? Here in CA the rate ranges from a baseline of $0.12/Kwh to $0.45/Kwh. Being in tier 4 or 5 would make me think twice before switching on those extra two rows of lighting.

 

[mrb]

are you billed for time of use?

 

[rsanter]

the california public utilities commision CPUC has set up the tier rate structure and the time of use structure to encourage energy users to save electricity or pay the price
the more you use the more you pay, except as you use more the cost goes up at a faster rate.
rates also change from winter to summer.
electricity is under max demand during the day espically during the summer.
in the evening there is a surplus.

remember that any energy you save is a reduction off the most expensive electricity you would have paid for

bob

 

[mrb]

yeah but that only applies if you have a meter that bills for time of use.

 

[rsanter]

all residential will be default on the 5 tier plan and it rolls up the tiers based on total monthly usage
residential has the option to go on time of use.
buisnesses are on time of use

bob

 

[Steevo]

In the area where my Calif. residence is, we are now on "Smart Meters".
I think they named them that because it was smart of PG&E to find more ways to charge us extra for using the electricity and gas when we need it most, like running A/C when it is hot out. DUH!
But we can log into their web site and get all kinds of cute graphs of the usage patterns! Lucky us!

 

[JBurgess]

This plan?

http://www.pge.com/tariffs/tm2/pdf/ELEC_SCHEDS_E-6.pdf

 

[GTOGreg]

Thanks JBurgess...that spells it out about as clearly as I've seen (re: what the "peak, partial peak, and off-peak hours actually are). I have a "smart" meter installed so I guess I'm on the plan by default. The info is so difficult to understand, changes so rapidly, not to mention hard-to-find, that I can only suspect it is being used against us as consumers.

rsanter, do you know if you can selectively alternate between TOU and total monthly billed, or is it a one-shot deal?

Thanks All.

 

[rsanter]

you need to check with your utility, I dont see any reason you couldnt switch back if you didnt like the change, but I really dont think you are going to be able to switch back and forth a bunch of times
the only way TOU is better for a residential customer is if you have a solar install and really dont use energy during the day
or perhaps if you just dont use energy during the day because your gone all day

bob

 

[JBurgess]

Here's the explanation of baselines.

http://www.pge.com/myhome/customerservice/financialassistance/medicalbaseline/understand/index.shtml

I just pay the bill to PGE for, gave up trying to figure it out. Yes, they change it a lot, the June rate sheet was the third one for 2010.