PG&E's new EV tiered rates

[mikenmar]

They are here:

 

http://www.pge.com/tariffs/tm2/pdf/ELEC_SCHEDS_EV.pdf

 

Now, I had actually managed to figure out how the E-9 rates work.  If you're currently on the E-9 rates, you have the option of staying with them, or switching to the new EV rates. So, I'd obviously like to figure out which is cheaper.

 

Good luck with that.  This is a whole new level of gobbledy gook. Seriously, does anyone understand what this means?

 

Total bundled service charges shown on a customer’s bills are unbundled according to the component rates shown below. Where the minimum charge applies with no usage, generation is calculated residually based on the total minimum charge less the sum of: Distribution, Reliability Services, Public Purpose Programs, and Nuclear Decommissioning. Where the minimum charge applies with usage, the generation charge is calculated residually based on the total charge less the sum of: Transmission, Transmission Rate Adjustments, Reliability Services, Distribution, Public Purpose Programs, Nuclear Decommissioning, CTC, Energy Cost Recovery Amount, DWR Bond and the New System Generation Charge.

 

This lovely bit of prose is followed by a three-column table full of numbers complete with incomprehensible footnotes like:

 

Total rate less the sum of the individual non-generation components.

 

I can't wait to call them up and ask some poor soul what the hell this means...

Edited August 20, 2013 at 04:04 AM by mikenmar

[Energized]

Good luck trying to figure it out and trying to determine what makes sense.   

 

What I've noticed with my utility's Time of Use EV plan is they offer a cheaper rate off-peak, but in turn they increase the on-peak rates.  The savings obtained charging a small battery like in the Energi is offset by an increased rate to run everything else in your home.

[surfandswim]

The SCE time of use rate plan is ridiculous.    Basically you get a break for off-peak, but as soon as you hit 12 KWh on the day (which starts at midnight), you'll be paying $.33 / Kwh during the NON-Peak hours, and then $.51 / KWh during the PEAK time.    
 

So if you plug your car in at midnight to get the "super off peak" time at $.09, you'll eat up all of your Tier 1 before you're done with breakfast, then you're paying $.33 or $.51 / Kwh, which is HIGHER than the highest rate you'll ever pay with the normal plan.

So basically with this plan I have ZERO incentive to NOT plug my car in whenever I please... which is what I do.... lame.      I called them on this and asked why they did it this way... the rep had no idea.   If they started your day at say 6:00 AM, then it actually makes sense, because you'd have your car charged in the middle of the night (which is what they want) and then I'd have the full Tier 1 to work with for the day at our house.      This would incentivize me to save and plug the car in at night... which is EXACTLY what they want.

I've explored the two meter scheme too.... I may do that,  but I just read in small print, that I if you go the two meter route, you can't do solar with the two meter setup.... UGH!    

All of this is so frustrating.  In the meantime I've tried to get my regular house bill lower.... all my lights are LED in the house, etc... I keep telling the kids to turn off the computer and TV when they are done.... I'm trying to see how low I can get my regular electric bill down before I do anything.

 

I think the PGE time of use plan is ALOT better than SCE....

 

[Energized]

 

So basically with this plan I have ZERO incentive to NOT plug my car in whenever I please... which is what I do.... lame.     

 

 

 

 

Agreed.   I do the same. 

[TechOps]

EV is simpler than E-9 because there is no tiering of rates. They stay the same no matter how much you use.

 

Did you look at the bottom of page 1 and the top of page 3? It lists the total rate for EV-A and EV-B, respectively. What you are looking at is how the rate breaks down into all its subcomponents.

 

One big difference is that EV has a peak during summer and winter, whereas the E-9 rate had a peak only during summer.

 

The difference between the two rates will be highly dependent on your useage patterns and volume of electricity you use overall, so it's kind of hard to say.

[Fat Fusion]

I just switched to the EV-1 plan.  I hardly use any electricity most of the year, with the exception being in the summer I run the AC quite a bit.  My fall and spring bills are usually about $30 with winter coming in at about $40 and in the summer it can spike to $200 for a month or two.  I have programmed the car to charge from 11pm to 6am.  We'll see how well it works.

[SD Diver]

Fellow Californians,

     Here in San Diego, the EV-TOU2 really saved me.  With the tiered normal plan, most of my electricity was at $0.37/kWh (tier 4).  Now, with time of day, I charge my car at 0.16 (and run the pool filter at that time as well).  Even at peak, it is $0.29 - still less than the tier 4 rate.  Also, SDG&E claims that it will bill you both ways for the first three months (not that I saw this - but my bill was considerably lower with the new plan).