"Time Of Use" (TOU) Programs
http://www.FuelCellElectronics.com/public/TimeOfUse.html

Throughout the United States, many Utility companies offer special discounted rates to residential and commercial customers who agree to limit their electrical demand during 'peak usage' hours. Those signing up for these special rates, generally referred to as Time of Use (TOU) programs, are required to use devices that throttle consumption by 'high current' electronic units (i.e., HVACs and hot water heaters) during peak usage hours. These 'throttling' devices can be under the direct control of the utility or the individual user.

Utilities look at TOU programs as a way to help them more efficiently utilize resources, ultimately saving them money and increasing their bottom line. Because demand during 'peak hours' is far greater than 'off peak' demand, Utilities have been forced to invest in and maintain sufficient resources to meet peak demand, even though during off peak hours, those resources are often idle. Additionally, some of the techniques used to meet peak demand generate even higher expenses and are less environmentally friendly, resulting in even more waste.

Since load requirements change depending on the time of day, utilities use several methods to meet demand:

  1. "Baseload" generators -- are the main power generators of any Utility. These units tend to use fuels with lower costs, such as coal and nuclear fuel, making them the most economical of a Utility's power generators. These generators are generally available only to meet the demand that is consistent throughout the day. To the extent that a Utility attempts to meet 'Intermediate' or 'Peak' demand via baseload resources, they risk having unused capacity, resulting in wasted financial investments. In some cases, certain types of utility generation plants can't suffieciently cut back their operations and are forced to produce unused power at a dead loss.
  2. 'Intermediate' generators -- are less expensive to build and implement than 'baseload' generators. They typically have higher fuel costs because they use oil and natural gas to generate power. These devices are usually brought online during the day as the load rises and demand exceeds supply available from the 'baseload' generators.
  3. "Peaking" generators -- usually rely on more expensive fuels, such as natural gas and oil and are brought online for as brief a time as possible to handle load levels exceeding the capability of Baseload and Intermediate generators of power.
Based on the above information, the more a Utility can avoid using either "Intermediate" or "Peaking" resources, the lower its operating costs. To incentivise the public to minimize usage during peak hours, some utilities offer "load management" programs, which provide discounted rates during off peak hours and provide penalties or surcharges for excessive usage during peak hours.

Listed below are utility companies that currently offer Time of use rate programs to their customers (this is not an all-inclusive list):

Wisconsin Public Service Corporation
http://www.wisconsinpublicservice.com/business/tou.asp

Portland General Electric
http://www.portlandgeneral.com/business/products/power_options/time_of_use/Default.asp?bhcp=1

Baltimore Gas & Electric
http://www.bge.com/cmp/CDA/CDAError/0,1669,245%25252D5,00.html

Los Angeles Department of Water and Power
http://www.ladwp.com/resserv/conprog/timeuse/timeuse.htm

Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement and Power District
http://www.srpnet.com/prices/tou.asp

Wisconsin Electric Power Company
http://www.we-energies.com/house/electric_services/time_of_use.htm

Nevada Power
http://www.nevadapower.com/services/residential/payment/timeofuse.html

Niagra Mohawk
http://www.niagaramohawk.com/youracct/priceenrg/respricing/timeofuse.html

Tucson Electric Power
http://www.tucsonelectric.com/Residential/PowerService/TimeofUse.html

Southern Minnesota Municipal Power Agency
http://www.smmpa.org/atwork/timerate.html

Sawnee Electric Membership Corporation
http://www.sawnee.com/Residential/TU-12.aspx

Public Service Company of New Mexico Electric Services
http://www.pnm.com/regulatory/pdf_electricity/schedule-3b.pdf

PREMA
http://www.premanet.com/time_of_use_rates.htm

Mississippi Power (A Southern Company)
http://www.southerncompany.com/mspower/pricing/mpc-pdf/LPO-TOU-5A.pdf

Southern California Edison
http://www.sce.com/sc3/009_for_your_home/009h_rates/009h4_spectouopt.htm

Gunnison County Electric http://www.gcea.coop/consumerserv/rtou.cfm

DMEA http://www.dmea.com/service/tou.htm

Riverside Public Utilities
http://www.ci.riverside.ca.us/utilities/benefits/resi/urate.htm

Columbus Electric
http://www.columbusco-op.org/rates/rates.cfm

Carteret-Craven Electric Cooperative http://www.ccemc.com/membership/TOU%20Residential%20mailer%2012002.pdf

ConEdison
http://www.coned.com/sales/home/home_energy_manage.htm

City of Glendale, CA Water & Power
http://www.ci.glendale.ca.us/government/gwp/Rates%20Regulations/business%20rates/small_medium_business_demand_electric_rates.html

Progress Energy
http://www.progress-energy.com/aboutenergy/rates/rates_desc_Jul_00_NC.pdf

Kit Carson Electric Cooperative
http://www.kitcarson.com/payment-billing/rates.htm

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