Coweta-Fayette EMC "Free" charging

[SimAntic]

Coweta-Fayette EMC advertises free charging for a year on new EV's. It does require changing to their Time of Use rate plan. They account for the EV charging with a $28 credit for 12 months. Without going through all the numbers between this plan and the regular plan, my guesstimation is that I would have saved $40 for the past year of regular use (without an EV) including the $28 credit.

Has anybody used this offer from the EMC? I did contact them regarding my findings. They offered to do a cost analysis, but I have not heard back yet.

 

[SimAntic]

Be warned. I just got my cost analysis back from Coweta-Fayette EMC. If I had used their Time of Use rate plan for the past 12 months, it would have cost me an additional $605. Deduct the $28 per month discount for "free charging" and it still would have cost and additional $269. Those prices don't include any EV charging which would have narrowed the difference somewhat, but I don't believe significantly.

The problem with this plan is that during the summer months, peak hours 2p-8p jump to a whopping 30C/kWh. If you are able to minimize use during those hours, it might be worth looking into.

They have an online form that you fill out that really just starts the process. You want to do that anyway because you do get a $100 check for installing a charger. But be sure to ask for a cost analysis before you make a decision regarding changing plans.

 

[ewoodrick]

Georgia TOU of use rates (most are derived from the Georgia Power rates) were created in the 80's and just happen to look good for EVs.
You seem to be lucky that you may have a TOU meter, many don't, and that makes the analysis really easy.

But the rate isn't necessarily a great rate in general. While it was designed to be revenue neutral, that means it benefits half of the people and hurts the other half. That summer time afternoon rate is the killer. That's prime AC time. But even more importantly, the low tier rate isn't that much better. To offset the huge peak usage, one would expect nearly free off-peak usage. That's just not the case.

There are indeed people who save money on the TOU rates, I know that I don't expect that I'm one of them, doesn't seem like you are either,
I'm on Jackson EMC, NE of ATL.

 

[SimAntic]

I just find it odd the amount of effort and money the EMC puts into advertising this free charging, between billboards and bits in their newsletter. I might be closer to worst case scenario due to a family member with health issues that prefers the house cooler. But I find it hard to believe that anybody, except maybe somebody that works afternoons and can keep their home much warmer during the 2p-8p hours, would benefit.

I was able to crunch the numbers they provided and found my on-peak utilization averaged 50%, ranging 45%-55%, during the peak summer months.

 

[ewoodrick]

I just find it odd the amount of effort and money the EMC puts into advertising this free charging, between billboards and bits in their newsletter. I might be closer to worst case scenario due to a family member with health issues that prefers the house cooler. But I find it hard to believe that anybody, except maybe somebody that works afternoons and can keep their home much warmer during the 2p-8p hours, would benefit.

I was able to crunch the numbers they provided and found my on-peak utilization averaged 50%, ranging 45%-55%, during the peak summer months.

This is easy, they are advertising how they are so helpful to the consumer, a goodwill thing.

Everyone (I think) in Georgia is getting power from Southern Company. They are having to pay for the new Nuclear Reactor and once it goes online, they will have energy to spare during the worst times. So there tends to be no need for consumers to reduce any usage.

But it sounds better in the press.