So Cal Edison TOU Plans, are they worth it?

[bakerboy]

We moved into our current house November 2015, we literally doubled our floor space, added a pool and central AC to our family home that we bought. We have been on the basic 3 tier plan, now that I have the MS, I need to make sure we are on the right plan through So Cal Edison. We are a family of 2 adults and 2 small children, my wife and I work full time and we are pretty much out of the house from 7am - 6pmish (FYI: we have multiple layers of security including neighbors that are home all day) so our usage weekdays is primarily early in the mornings and later in the evenings. For some reason we always assumed that we were on a TOU plan so we instinctively tried to shift energy use to be on during the late night, like our pool pump, I currently have it set to run from 12am - 5am.

Today, I called SCE and switched to the TOU-D-B which is:


TOU-D Option B (TOU-D-B)

TOU-D-B has three different time or “peak” periods and associated pricing.

• This rate option has generally lower peak prices
• There is no baseline credit on this rate option
• The daily basic charge is $.54 per day
• This rate option is generally attractive to high usage customers, with monthly usage of more than 700 kWh

Close peak hours and pricing
Hide

I get home around 7pm and right now have to charge the car with the basic 5-15 plug because I need to upgrade my panel from a 100amp to a 200amp service. I should have that complete hopefully by the end of this month at which time I will be getting a 14-50 on a dedicated circuit installed, then eventually going solar.

Currently I'm charging the MS all night and leave around 7am, so its plugged in anywhere from 10-12 hours nightly into the early mornings. Our current bill is anywhere from $111 - $160 per month, I've calculated about another $50-$75 more a month just for adding the MS.

For those in the So Cal area that have Edison, have you changed to a TOU plan after you got your Tesla? Can anyone with a similar situation shed some light if changing to a TOU saved you money or did it make your bill go up?

T.I.A.

 

[ran349]

I am in SoCal and I switched to TOU-D-A as soon as I got my Tesla. It makes a huge difference for me because I have solar panels. If I used the residential plan which I was on before my Tesla, I would be paying about $1100/yr. Now that I am on TOU-D-A, I actually get a check from Edison every year instead of paying anything, even though I now am a net user of electricity with my car. It works out that way since I get credit at the peak rate for what my panels produce during the day, and I charge my car at the super off peak rate at night.
I would think that you would still benefit from TOU, even if you don't have solar panels. But I am not sure the TOU-D-B is the best deal. To me, the TOU-D-A was definitely the better choice, since it doesn't have that high daily charge.

 

[bakerboy]

Hi ran349,

Do you have ppl home during the peak hours?

 

[MIT_S60]

You may want to look into the current EV Submeter Pilot Program if you don't want to switch your house's plan to TOU:
EV Submeter Pilot Program | Electric Vehicle Rates | Electric Vehicles | Your Home | Home - SCE

 

[ran349]

Hi ran349,

Do you have ppl home during the peak hours?

Yes, we are home on and off during the day. Because of our solar power, we don't even worry about shifting energy usage to off peak hours. The only thing I make sure is that I always charge my car during the off peak hours, which is very convenient. I just have to remember to always plug in my car at night.

 

[Az_Rael]

We moved into our current house November 2015, we literally doubled our floor space, added a pool and central AC to our family home that we bought. We have been on the basic 3 tier plan, now that I have the MS, I need to make sure we are on the right plan through So Cal Edison. We are a family of 2 adults and 2 small children, my wife and I work full time and we are pretty much out of the house from 7am - 6pmish (FYI: we have multiple layers of security including neighbors that are home all day) so our usage weekdays is primarily early in the mornings and later in the evenings. For some reason we always assumed that we were on a TOU plan so we instinctively tried to shift energy use to be on during the late night, like our pool pump, I currently have it set to run from 12am - 5am.

Today, I called SCE and switched to the TOU-D-B which is:


TOU-D Option B (TOU-D-B)

TOU-D-B has three different time or “peak” periods and associated pricing.

• This rate option has generally lower peak prices
• There is no baseline credit on this rate option
• The daily basic charge is $.54 per day
• This rate option is generally attractive to high usage customers, with monthly usage of more than 700 kWh

Close peak hours and pricing
Hide

I get home around 7pm and right now have to charge the car with the basic 5-15 plug because I need to upgrade my panel from a 100amp to a 200amp service. I should have that complete hopefully by the end of this month at which time I will be getting a 14-50 on a dedicated circuit installed, then eventually going solar.

Currently I'm charging the MS all night and leave around 7am, so its plugged in anywhere from 10-12 hours nightly into the early mornings. Our current bill is anywhere from $111 - $160 per month, I've calculated about another $50-$75 more a month just for adding the MS.

For those in the So Cal area that have Edison, have you changed to a TOU plan after you got your Tesla? Can anyone with a similar situation shed some light if changing to a TOU saved you money or did it make your bill go up?

T.I.A.

I am in SCE territory and we switched the house to the TOU plan before getting the car. We also have noone home during the day, so all thermostats are programmed accordingly. I made the switch in anticipation of the car (a Chevy Volt, not my S), but did it several months in advance of getting the car. We saved a ton just doing that. We used to get into Tier 4 each month, and now we can avoid those high per kWh rates entirely.

Being the engineer that I am, I downloaded all my green button data to excel and calculated what our rate would be on regular Tiered plans vs TOU. The green button data is in 15 minute increments so you can do those calculations. The excel file was of epic proportions, but it showed we would save a lot and we did.

 

[dchan81]

I have changed to a SoCal Edison TOU plan as of February 2017. I have had pretty significant savings so far. You just have to get used to moving some of your electricity usage to the super off peak hours. It is easy to shift most of your energy usage to the super off peak hours if you are disciplined and a little creative and willing to use basic technology like smart thermostats.

 

[tslalrry]

I am in SoCal and I switched to TOU-D-A as soon as I got my Tesla. It makes a huge difference for me because I have solar panels. If I used the residential plan which I was on before my Tesla, I would be paying about $1100/yr. Now that I am on TOU-D-A, I actually get a check from Edison every year instead of paying anything, even though I now am a net user of electricity with my car. It works out that way since I get credit at the peak rate for what my panels produce during the day, and I charge my car at the super off peak rate at night.
I would think that you would still benefit from TOU, even if you don't have solar panels. But I am not sure the TOU-D-B is the best deal. To me, the TOU-D-A was definitely the better choice, since it doesn't have that high daily charge.

I was charging at the San Juan Capistrano supercharger one day and a Tesla Solar City employee was there. He said that anyone who is close to break-even on their electric bills with solar panels will do better with TOU-D-A than TOU-D-B, even though SCE promotes this as popular with net energy metering customers. Your point is right on the money that avoiding the .54 daily charge is the key. I haven't pulled the trigger yet, but after summer I plan to.

 

[bakerboy]

Thank you everyone!

Just give some more info, our house is 2 story and is insulated very well, during the summer months it will get up to about 82°f, we do have a Nest, last summer we rarely programmed the AC to start, if anything I would turn on the AC around bedtime because upstairs is hotter. So it seems that TOU-D-A might be a better choice:

OU-D Option A (TOU-D-A)

TOU-D-A has three different time or “peak” periods and associated pricing.

• This rate option has generally higher peak prices which are offset by a monthly baseline credit. For all electricity use up to your monthly baseline allocation, you receive a $.09 credit. For example, if your monthly allocation is 200 kWh, you would see a $18 credit on your monthly bill on this rate.
• This rate option has a low basic charge of $.03 per day
• The combination of higher energy charges with the baseline credit offset and low monthly basic charge make this rate attractive to customers with monthly usage that is less than 700kWh.

 

[BrokerDon]

We don't have solar and have been on TOU-D-B-SDP for years (SDP is Summer Discount Plan). We've had our Tesla for the past 18 months including 12 months as part of EV Submetering Pilot Program Phase 1 (now expired) which put our Tesla on TOU-EV-1 so we've charged our Tesla both on TOU-EV-1 and TOU-D-B

• there were negligible savings per kWh from being on TOU-EV-1 "Off-Peak") vs. TOU-D-B "Super Off Peak" while we were enrolled in EV Submetering Pilot Program Phase 1. The ONLY advantage to being on TOU-EV-1 was longer "Off Peak" hours (9:00 PM to 12:00 noon) vs. OUT-D-B "Super Off-Peak" (10:00 pM to 8:00 AM).
• IHMO the current EV Submetering Pilot Program Phase 2 makes no sense. Phase 1 provided an eMotorWerks WattBox on our 80A / 240V Gen 1 Tesla High Power Wall Charger ("HPWC") basically free (parts AND installation)... but now in Phase 2 the submeters cost HUNDRED$ for parts even with "credits" plus installation isn't cheap either... all for basically ZERO kWh savings. Also the Phase 2 submeter hardware is limited to 40A / 240V... A big step back from our 80! Tesla HPWC
• TOU-D-A makes sense IF you're a NEM solar customer. Otherwise TOU-D-B is better. Confirmed by the solar companies who've given us estimates.
• SCE's Summer Discount Plan saves us $450 every summer by allowing SCE to shut off our AC compressors for a couple of hours in late afternoon and early evening on their "Power Emergency" days... Usually just a handful of days each summer. This reduces our SCE bills from $175 to $25 a month to $75. Insanely great deal for us since we know in advance when these SDP interruptions are coming and can simply "pre-condition" our house in advance of these SDP events using our Ecobee3 thermostats (on SCE's Smart Savers SoCal Program), dress for heat (board shorts for me), drink iced tea and use fans to stay cool for 2 to 4 hours. EASY Since you typically don't get home until 7 PM you may never experience an SDP event.
• SCE Customer Service can run your usage using different price plans... for free.

 

[aus]

SCE is taking away TOU-A in July. That should tell you which plan is the best for the consumer.
If you have solar, it's a not brainer because you'll be selling back at the highest prices. I have 28 older panels and was paying $20-50/mo on the standard plan. I now get $20-30 credit each month.
I always pay more during the Winter months. My panels can cover the 2 fridges, pool pump and the rest of the house and still make energy. If I really wanted to save, I'd run the pool at night too but we shut it off by 2PM.

If you need a 14-50 outlet installed, my buddy has done 7 friends and he's WAY cheaper than the Tesla recommended people. He's a fully certified contractor and does commercial solar panels projects all over California.
.

 

[MIT_S60]

SCE is taking away TOU-A in July. That should tell you which plan is the best for the consumer.
If you have solar, it's a not brainer because you'll be selling back at the highest prices. I have 28 older panels and was paying $20-50/mo on the standard plan. I now get $20-30 credit each month.
I always pay more during the Winter months. My panels can cover the 2 fridges, pool pump and the rest of the house and still make energy. If I really wanted to save, I'd run the pool at night too but we shut it off by 2PM.

If you need a 14-50 outlet installed, my buddy has done 7 friends and he's WAY cheaper than the Tesla recommended people. He's a fully certified contractor and does commercial solar panels projects all over California.
.

I must have missed that SCE is taking away TOU-A. Are they moving people onto TOU-D-B, or are there new plans coming out?

 

[aus]

I must have missed that SCE is taking away TOU-A. Are they moving people onto TOU-D-B, or are there new plans coming out?

I'm not sure. I heard it on one of the solar panel commercials on the radio. I'm hoping they'll grandfather us in who have it now.
.

 

[oktane]

Those of you with solar and time of use, what percentage of panels do you have facing west? I'm not a fan of the 2 PM to 8 PM peak hours.

 

[ran349]

Those of you with solar and time of use, what percentage of panels do you have facing west? I'm not a fan of the 2 PM to 8 PM peak hours.

All my panels are west facing because I have tree shading issues on the south side of my roof. You lose a little production because of that, but not enough to matter, at least in my case. And since I have a single inverter, they all have to face the same direction.

 

[Petra]

I must have missed that SCE is taking away TOU-A. Are they moving people onto TOU-D-B, or are there new plans coming out?

I hope not... net metered TOU-D-A has actually been working out better for us than the old TOU-D-TEV rate schedule.

*edit* This topic kinda reminds me of the big rate shakeup years ago... New Southern California edison time of use rates

 

[idealsol]

We switched to TOU-B long before owning a Tesla. As fairly heavy energy users is was a total no-brainer. I actually found an online 3rd party calculator that used downloaded data from SCE. Once I ran the numbers it was clear we should switch. I estimate we saved 600-800 per year and every month we save something. Perhaps counter intuitively the biggest savings are in the winter months due to the better overall rates at that time

 

[outie]

I am in SoCal and I switched to TOU-D-A as soon as I got my Tesla. It makes a huge difference for me because I have solar panels. If I used the residential plan which I was on before my Tesla, I would be paying about $1100/yr. Now that I am on TOU-D-A, I actually get a check from Edison every year instead of paying anything, even though I now am a net user of electricity with my car. It works out that way since I get credit at the peak rate for what my panels produce during the day, and I charge my car at the super off peak rate at night.
I would think that you would still benefit from TOU, even if you don't have solar panels. But I am not sure the TOU-D-B is the best deal. To me, the TOU-D-A was definitely the better choice, since it doesn't have that high daily charge.

My understanding is that if you are a net user of electricity, you wouldn't have gotten a check from SCE because any credits you accumulated will get zeroed out at true up. You should be getting a check only if you are a net producer.

 

[Viking1]

Being the engineer that I am, I downloaded all my green button data to excel and calculated what our rate would be on regular Tiered plans vs TOU. The green button data is in 15 minute increments so you can do those calculations. The excel file was of epic proportions, but it showed we would save a lot and we did.

I was thinking of trying the same. Is it difficult to update the file? Could you possibly share the file (without your data) so I can see how it is done?

 

[Az_Rael]

I was thinking of trying the same. Is it difficult to update the file? Could you possibly share the file (without your data) so I can see how it is done?

It was a couple of years ago, so I don't have the file anymore. I mostly brute-forced it since I am not an excel macro wizard or anything. I pretty much copied a few months of data into the excel file, then used the text delimiter to split up the data into better columns. After that, I did each day with the various rates and had a running kWh tally for the Tier method. Then massive amounts of copy/pasting.

Someone upthread mentioned a third party site that could do the analysis with access to your Green button data. That's probably waaay easier.