MA DPU striking TOU/TVR, adding commercial Demand Charges

[3mp_kwh]

http://170.63.40.34/DPU/FileRoomAPI/api/Attachments/Get/?path=17-05/1705B_Order_1518.pdf

Not much in the 345 pages reads like you'd think MA rolls. We're a deregulated state, known for efforts in renewables and efficiencies. Solar perks are declining just about everywhere, but to see demand charges among the MA solutions (rather than reduced net metering, or SRECs) is a real shot across the bow. We're seeking 200MWh of battery storage. So, instead of incensing a need for it to shift peak consumption to off-peak, commercial customers will need it, along with smarter metering solutions, to prevent demand charges.

Within docket 17-05, the DPU itself reiterated an Eversource claim that only ".02 percent", or 1 in 5,000 customers, takes advantage of TOU. I am not sure I buy that, or the idea they were ever passing along the accurate savings represented from over-night wholesale energy costs. This past cold spell, daytime wholesale market rates have been through the roof ($100-150/MWh).

 

[tga]

i saw $0.50/kWh ($500/MWh) on the ISO to go app last week.

 

[North75]

Within docket 17-05, the DPU itself reiterated an Eversource claim that only ".02 percent", or 1 in 5,000 customers, takes advantage of TOU. I am not sure I buy that, or the idea they were ever passing along the accurate savings represented from over-night wholesale energy costs. This past cold spell, daytime wholesale market rates have been through the roof ($100-150/MWh).

I'm not sure if this surprises me or not. Have you actually tried to find out about TOU on Eversource's website? It seems to me that they go out of their way to hide information about it. They are certainly not encouraging anybody to use it.
The worst part of their website is the info on electric vehicles. What a joke. As far as I can tell they have no internal information regarding electric vehicles at all.

 

[3mp_kwh]

Have you actually tried to find out about TOU on Eversource's website?

I'm on Eversource TOU, so 'yes'. It's been a while, though. I remember they didn't call back, after first leaving a message. They price their TOU such that, at last count, you'd have to be 3:1 in ratio of off-peak to peak, in order to beat the base rate. Nat Grid recently required 2,000KWh of monthly consumption, before qualifying for entry into its own (U.S. avg is ~30KWh/dy). Then they claim "nobody wants it", before seeking "simplicity" in rates from the DPU.

I'm trying to research the rates, or proxy, for the hour-by-hour costs at which Eversource has to go buy the power (they don't make it). I think I can get hourly rates from Bloomberg, or NEPOOL, but if anyone knows where Eversource's costs are public I'd appreciate a point. With them, one should be able to reprove how much higher and lower, the peak and off-peak rates should be.

It depends a little bit on how punitive the new net-metered demand charge is on solar owners, but I think it safe to say MA EV owners just became grid-subsidizers, while solar's subsidy was kept mostly intact (retail net-metering, plus SRECs). Much of the cold week's pricing is atypical, but separated by ~$200/MWh (day/night, on Bloomberg: <VOLT><go> for Americas/ISO/New England).

 

[David29]

I'm not sure if this surprises me or not. Have you actually tried to find out about TOU on Eversource's website? It seems to me that they go out of their way to hide information about it. They are certainly not encouraging anybody to use it.
...
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The Eversource electric rates for all rate classes can be found here: Summary of Eastern Massachusetts Electric Rates

But I do agree with you that Eversource does not provide sufficient information on TOU rates. When I installed a new separate electric service to charge my car, I saw no mention of TOU rates as an option, whereas an EV charging service is a perfect candidate for that service (and I subsequently got it). Eversource's sales and promotion literature never seems to mention TOU rates, at least not for residential customers. Commercial customers are a whole different matter, of course, and TOU has been more widely used in commercial and industrial applications for a long time, as I understand it.

When I got my first Eversource bill for 2018, I reviewed the changes in the rates. In my case, using Residential TOU rates, the good news is that the Eastern MA residential TOU rates got more attractive for 2018:

§ Off-peak delivery rates are lower than in 2017, for both winter and summer rates.
§ Peak rates changed very little
§ The break-even point at which the savings offsets the higher monthly fee for TOU rates dropped from 141/147 kWh (winter/summer) in 2017 to 71.0/72.5 kWh. In other words, you do not have to use as much energy to offset the extra fee as you did in 2017. The 2018 break-even point is about what it was in 2016.
§ Thus, the incentive to use TOU rates increased – the savings is higher compared to standard residential rates, and the savings to use off-peak vs. peak was increased.

Note that these comments apply only to the "delivery" part of your electric bill, not the energy portion, and only to Eversource in Eastern MA. Energy rates are another whole, separate subject. Rates changed in other Eversource territories, too, but I did not have access to the data for earlier years to make a comparison.

And by the way, the effect of the rate increase won't be completely apparent on your January bill, because the January billing is most likely based upon a blend of the 2017 and 2018 rates, depending upon when in the month your meter was read. (The residential bills should list the blended rate used for the billing.)

And also by the way -- these rates may not last long. As was widely reported in the press, the tax law changes passed by Congress at the end of 2017 will result in a decrease in the newly-approved rates. But the DPU will have to approve the effect of the tax changes on the entire rate structure, so it is not clear is the rates will uniformly drop by X% or if the tax adjustments will vary by rate class. So, stay tuned. With Benefit From New Tax Law, Eversource Says It Will Lower Rates For Mass. Customers

 

[David29]

The Eversource electric rates for all rate classes can be found here: Summary of Eastern Massachusetts Electric Rates

But I do agree with you that Eversource does not provide sufficient information on TOU rates. When I installed a new separate electric service to charge my car, I saw no mention of TOU rates as an option, whereas an EV charging service is a perfect candidate for that service (and I subsequently got it). Eversource's sales and promotion literature never seems to mention TOU rates, at least not for residential customers. Commercial customers are a whole different matter, of course, and TOU has been more widely used in commercial and industrial applications for a long time, as I understand it.

When I got my first Eversource bill for 2018, I reviewed the changes in the rates. In my case, using Residential TOU rates, the good news is that the Eastern MA residential TOU rates got more attractive for 2018:

§ Off-peak delivery rates are lower than in 2017, for both winter and summer rates.
§ Peak rates changed very little
§ The break-even point at which the savings offsets the higher monthly fee for TOU rates dropped from 141/147 kWh (winter/summer) in 2017 to 71.0/72.5 kWh. In other words, you do not have to use as much energy to offset the extra fee as you did in 2017. The 2018 break-even point is about what it was in 2016.
§ Thus, the incentive to use TOU rates increased – the savings is higher compared to standard residential rates, and the savings to use off-peak vs. peak was increased.

Note that these comments apply only to the "delivery" part of your electric bill, not the energy portion, and only to Eversource in Eastern MA. Energy rates are another whole, separate subject. Rates changed in other Eversource territories, too, but I did not have access to the data for earlier years to make a comparison.

And by the way, the effect of the rate increase won't be completely apparent on your January bill, because the January billing is most likely based upon a blend of the 2017 and 2018 rates, depending upon when in the month your meter was read. (The residential bills should list the blended rate used for the billing.)

And also by the way -- these rates may not last long. As was widely reported in the press, the tax law changes passed by Congress at the end of 2017 will result in a decrease in the newly-approved rates. But the DPU will have to approve the effect of the tax changes on the entire rate structure, so it is not clear is the rates will uniformly drop by X% or if the tax adjustments will vary by rate class. So, stay tuned. With Benefit From New Tax Law, Eversource Says It Will Lower Rates For Mass. Customers

The rates changed again on February 1. Eversource says the February rate change is actually the result of the recent rate case, and also reflects the recent drop in federal tax rates. And indeed, if you look at the new rates on their website, the Residential Time of Use Rate (A5) is gone. Eversource has not advised me of this not have they told me what rate I will be using instead. Maybe they will say something when the March bill arrives, because it will be the first bill entirely on the new rates -- the February bills are a blend of the January and February rates and were computed for peak and off-peak periods, as normal. Meanwhile, I am writing a letter to DPU to complain about the decision to drop the rate plan just as EVS are becoming more popular.