Time-based rates in the wilds of MN

[MNSteve]

For general interest, I thought I would share this.

I live in a rural part of Minnesota that is served by a co-op. They do a great job. Our power is reliable and I pay $.107 per kWH plus a small fixed charge.

Shortly after I purchased the Clarity, I called them to find out if they offered any time-based pricing. They don't. But the person I talked to on the phone was interested in the topic of electric vehicles and said that they were considering offering something.

Their offering arrived last week. There are two choices. The first offering is $.21 during peak time of 2-9 PM, and $.07 other times. The other option is $.053 except during 2-9 PM, when the circuit is shut down. These rates apply only to the EV charger and do not affect other electric use in the house. They require installation of a separate meter, and the charging station is hardwired into this circuit. If a new owner is having a new circuit installed to support a level-2 charger, installing the meter would probably not add much expense. For me, already having a plug-in charger that's working fine, the savings would take forever to make up for the cost of the installation.

 

[David in TN]

My home rate is $0.08829 per KWH, 24/7. I consider myself lucky to be where I am.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Inside EVs mobile app

 

[K8QM]

It's good to see a "Public Power Agency" thinking about this topic. My wife works in that sector and is being pretty vocal about getting in front of the curve with EV's/PHEV's from both the load standpoint and also the availability of charging in small towns that can always use more tourism dollars.

geo

 

[2002]

They require installation of a separate meter, and the charging station is hardwired into this circuit. If a new owner is having a new circuit installed to support a level-2 charger, installing the meter would probably not add much expense. For me, already having a plug-in charger that's working fine, the savings would take forever to make up for the cost of the installation.

You may want to give them your feedback on that, or maybe you already plan to. You might suggest a third offering that doesn't require a separate meter. That is what we have in Georgia, it's called the Plug-In Electric Vehicle rate and it applies to the entire household. It's actually available to anyone you don't have to own a plug-in vehicle to qualify, however it really only makes sense for someone with an electric vehicle because the super low rate is only between 11:00pm and 7:00am. The drawback is that you pay a much higher than normal rate during peak summer hours which is 2:00pm to 7:00pm weekdays June through September, except for Fourth of July and Labor Day. For someone who is normally not home during those hours that should work okay just don't run the air conditioner during those hours, although it could mean coming home to a hothouse each day. For someone who is home during weekdays if they run the air conditioner during the day that would likely offset much if not all of the savings depending on how much the air conditioner is used.

The quoted rates by Georgia Power for the plan are $.014 during 11pm-7am (yes that's one and a half cents), $0.20 2pm-7pm summer weekdays, and $0.06 all other times. Compared to our standard fixed rate of $0.05 winter and $0.09 summer. However the quoted rates don't include taxes, with taxes the plug-in rate works out to $.05 during 11pm-7am, $0.33 2pm-7pm summer weekdays, and $0.12 all other times. With taxes our standard fixed rate is $.11 winter and $.16 summer.

 

[Mowcowbell]

It would be hard to justify the expense of installing a second meter, especially when your base rate is only $.107 per kWh. The local power company in my area offers a similar tiered rate to what member 2002 detailed above, but I work 6am - 2:30pm and would not want to deal with a hot house from 3p to 7p each day. My standard base rate varies a bit depending on my usage, but averages around $.11 per kWh. If I had a full BEV like a Telsa or Bolt I might consider switching to a tiered rate, but my Clarity needs such a small charge each day I doubt I would see any cost savings.

My office has 8 Level 2 16amp charging stations which I can buy a 1 year lease for $145.

 

[fotomoto]

Here in Texas we have a deregulated market and can choose from numerous providers including local co-ops. No matter what one pays per kwh, there is a grid usage fee that can sometimes be as just as much. I mention this fee because I assumed it was simply based on usage but I recently learned it also greatly matters on WHEN (peak vs off-peak). Providers are seeking ways to get folks to use more power off-peak when there's a surplus on the grid (lots of surplus wind power here in Texas). After switching from the C-Max to much larger battery Clarity, I finally decided to look into the "Free Nights" program some offer and early results look very promising.

Using timers and other strategies to shift major loads (A/C, dryer, and EV charging) to the free time frame (8pm-6am), we've been able to drastically lower our costs per kwh while using the same or more energy. We've gone from 14.5 cents down to 6.4 cents (first partial month below). That rate will (unfortunately) go up during the rapidly approaching summer months when we can't avoid using more ac during the day but the satisfaction of knowing I'm driving my car with "free" electrons is priceless (12 a.m. spike is car).