Time-of-Use (TOU) rates give customers the opportunity to reduce their electric bills by shifting the time of day when they use electricity. It is more expensive to serve customers on-peak – when demand for electricity is high. Through our TOU rate, customers who shift the majority of their usage during low electric demand – known as off-peak times – are able to save on their electric bills.
With TOU, electric energy charges are lower than standard electric service rates during off-peak hours. TOU rates are broken into four periods as outlined:
Weekends as well as New Year's Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day are always off-peak.
Residential customers who shift significant electricity use from times of high electric demand to when demand is low, could save money with this rate option. Typically those who are saving on this rate:
Business customers will see the greatest benefit when they shift as much of their electricity use to the "off-peak" times as they can. Typically, business customers who can use at least 60% of their use "off-peak" will save on their energy bills.
Business who reduce overall energy use with conservation measures and/or improve the energy efficiency of their equipment and buildings will see the greatest savings.
Note: Business customers with a demand greater than 20 kW must be served by TOU rates.
Once your enrollment form is received, MGE will contact you to install a new meter.
TOU rates offer customers more control over their electricity costs. The rates encourage customers to use more of their electricity during lower cost times, thus helping to balance the electric load on our system. TOU customers pay more when it is more expensive for MGE to buy or generate power to meet the needs of all customers.
Lower off-peak rates are in effect about 68% of the time during the following time periods:
Electric demand is the rate at which a building uses electricity, measured in 1,000-watt increments, or kilowatts (kW). Demand typically varies throughout the day, depending on how much equipment is drawing power at the same time.
The monthly on-peak demand charge covers the cost of providing adequate generation and transmission service during peak times. It is based on the greatest rate at which your building has used electrical energy during any 15 consecutive minutes during on-peak hours in a specific billing period.
The customer maximum demand charge covers the cost to support, operate and maintain the local delivery system of wires and equipment necessary to move electricity from the transmission system to your business. It is based on the greatest rate at which you have used electrical energy during any 15 consecutive minutes in the current or preceding 11 billing periods.
