Video

Time-of-Use Electricity Rates Explained Simply

Education

Time-of-use pricing means the same amount of electricity can cost different amounts at different hours. This video shows how a battery can store lower-cost or solar-produced energy and use it later when peak rates apply.

Demand often rises when people return home, run appliances, cool the house, and charge vehicles. On a time-of-use plan, those busy hours may also be the most expensive.

A battery can reduce the need to buy grid electricity during that window by discharging stored energy. The financial benefit depends on the rate difference, battery settings, household load, equipment cost, and current utility rules.

What This Video Covers

  • The difference between peak and off-peak electricity
  • Why evening household activity can cost more
  • How storage can shift lower-cost energy into a higher-cost period

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Programs, utility policies, equipment availability, and incentives can change. Confirm current terms for your address and consult qualified financial or tax professionals when appropriate.

Video Transcript

Video Transcript

Mitch: a simple breakdown of time of use pricing. So, what that means is you have a home, you have 24 hours in a day, and different hours of that day, your utility company's going to charge you different rates. For example, 6 a. m.

might be 15 cents a kilowatt hour, and 6:00 p. m. might be 25 cents a kilowatt hour. More demand, more charge.

So, when you get home and you turn on all your lights, maybe you have an EV and you plug that in to charge, you plug in lots of other things in your house, you're doing laundry, all that stuff, you're pulling a lot of power, you're very active, you're getting charged peak rates. But with a battery, you can charge that battery in the morning with the cheaper rates. And then when you do all these things at home, rather than pulling from the grid at the expense of time, you're actually just pulling right from the battery where you've stored that power at a cheaper rate. So you can be much more energy efficient and cost effective in your energy usage.

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