PEPCO electrical rates - MD

[Richk]

This means a longer time until we approach break even on the cost of the panels (likely around 15years). I would predict your time to break even could be substantially lower. ... We sized our system to essentially break even with energy production/consumption on average over a year and basically reduce are electric bill to only the standard charge for grid connectivity (around $7/month).

Thanks. 15 years isn't too bad, though the lack of incentives in VA is disappointing.

Can you share info on your electricity generation? Size/area of your array for 13 kW? How many kWh per day you end up generating on average? And do I have it right- your PV system is pretty much offsetting all your usage over a year?

--Rich
MS 70D, #116403, dlvy 12/12/15, Midnight Blue, pano, autopilot

 

[CHRGIT]

Here is the link to alternate energy providers from the Maryland Office of People's Council. Some are higher and some are lower. http://www.opc.state.md.us/consumercorner/RetailSuppliers.aspx Pay attention to the term and fees.

 

[DFibRL8R]

Thanks. 15 years isn't too bad, though the lack of incentives in VA is disappointing.

Can you share info on your electricity generation? Size/area of your array for 13 kW? How many kWh per day you end up generating on average? And do I have it right- your PV system is pretty much offsetting all your usage over a year?

--Rich
MS 70D, #116403, dlvy 12/12/15, Midnight Blue, pano, autopilot

We generated 13.2 Mwh in 2015. We have 2 systems, one on a detached garage with 24 panels (255W each), and the other 26 panels (270W each) on the roof of the house for a 13.4 kW system total. We installed the garage system first which approximated our annual electricity usage for the Model S (drive about 22k miles a year). The second array on the house has covered our other household uses. Our monthly generation varies widely with a low of 600kWh in January and a peak of 1,600kWh in May last year. So some months we are net producing, some consuming but net around zero for the year.

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[Richk]

We generated 13.2 Mwh in 2015. We have 2 systems, one on a detached garage with 24 panels (255W each), and the other 26 panels (270W each) on the roof of the house for a 13.4 kW system total....

Thanks for sharing. Sounds like you have a pretty big system, but very cool that it generates that much electricity. Awesome that you net out about zero. Sounds like it might be worth pursuing, even with my south-facing-but-smaller roof.

--Rich
MS 70D, #116403, dlvy 12/12/15, Midnight Blue, pano, autopilot


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Thanks for the link, @CHRGIT. Have you investigated any of these providers?

I'd done a bit of research on MD's PSC website and found that Balance Power and Green Mountain Energy charge slightly less than PEPCO for generation and have no cancellation fees. But the savings is 1/2 cent per kWh at best, or just few-several $/month. And there seems to me to be a fair amount of risk with these suppliers- lots of consumer complaints about unannounced rate changes and even poorer customer service than PEPCO. Many have very low BBB ratings with lots of complaints. The savings didn't seem worth the risks to me.

--Rich
MS 70D, #116403, dlvy 12/12/15, Midnight Blue, pano, autopilot

 

[CHRGIT]

Thanks for sharing. Sounds like you have a pretty big system, but very cool that it generates that much electricity. Awesome that you net out about zero. Sounds like it might be worth pursuing, even with my south-facing-but-smaller roof.

--Rich
MS 70D, #116403, dlvy 12/12/15, Midnight Blue, pano, autopilot


- - - Updated - - -

Thanks for the link, @CHRGIT. Have you investigated any of these providers?

I'd done a bit of research on MD's PSC website and found that Balance Power and Green Mountain Energy charge slightly less than PEPCO for generation and have no cancellation fees. But the savings is 1/2 cent per kWh at best, or just few-several $/month. And there seems to me to be a fair amount of risk with these suppliers- lots of consumer complaints about unannounced rate changes and even poorer customer service than PEPCO. Many have very low BBB ratings with lots of complaints. The savings didn't seem worth the risks to me.

--Rich
MS 70D, #116403, dlvy 12/12/15, Midnight Blue, pano, autopilot

Recently I switched to Energy Plus http://www.energypluscompany.com/ at a rate of $0.083 per kWh. This compares to Bge's current rate of $0.09468 per kWh. For me it is a savings of $20 per month. The lock is for 3 months, but I got a bonus of 10,000 Southwest points. The lowest rate in the Bge area is NRG Residential at $0.079 per kWh. A savings of $0.01568 per kWh. I set up a calendar reminder to review at the end of a rate lock.

 

[pdq]

I own some Pepco stock, and instead of being broken up, they've been in very deep negotiations to be acquired.

 

[Lloyd]

Pray it is not PG&E !!!

 

[MacGreiner]

Bump - any updates on this since the pilot finished?
From what I can gather, there is very little if any incentive/reward for Pepco customers to do the right thing and load charging to off peak time? No doubt this kind of typical regressive Pepco thinking will bite them in a couple of years when EV load escalates.

 

[Vagus]

Agreed - no incentive whatsoever. And I'm not sure how electricity companies get away with making their charging schemes so elaborate and complicated - it makes it almost impossible to compare one against the other.

We have been on the time-metered tariff since we bought the house 2 or 3 years ago. One would think that if you paid attention to using electricity in the off-peak period you would stand to benefit financially - but looking at the tariff information below that's not a given (I have left off the multitude of state and county taxes, charges and surcharges that are consistent across all plans).

PEPCO MD - RESIDENTIAL SERVICE:
06/01/17 – 09/30/17
Generation: $ 0.07263 / kwh
Transmission: $ 0.00701 / kwh
Distribution: $ 7.60 / month + $ 0.05633 / kwh

10/01/17 – 05/31/18
Generation: $0.06989 / kwh
Transmission: $ 0.00701 / kwh
Distribution: $ 7.60 / month + $ 0.02783 / kwh

PEPCO MD - RESIDENTIAL TIME METERED SERVICE:
06/01/17 – 09/30/17
Generation On-Peak (12pm-8pm): $ 0.07617 / kwh
Generation Intermediate (8am-12pm / 8pm-12am): $ 0.07213 / kwh
Generation Off-Peak (12am-8am, weekends, holidays): $ 0.07080 / kwh
Transmission: $ 0.00728 / kwh
Distribution: $ 16.31 / month + $ 0.03296 / kwh

10/01/17 – 05/31/18
Generation On-Peak (12pm-8pm): $ 0.07067 / kwh
Generation Intermediate (8am-12pm / 8pm-12am): $ 0.07022 / kwh
Generation Off-Peak (12am-8am, weekends, holidays): $ 0.06954 / kwh
Transmission: $ 0.00728 / kwh
Distribution: $ 16.31 / month + $ 0.02797 / kwh

Let's say that in an "average" month we use 2,500 kwh split as follows: 500 kwh on-peak, 500 intermediate and 1,500 off-peak (remember that off-peak includes weekends and holidays). That would equate to the following:

PEPCO MD - RESIDENTIAL SERVICE:
06/01/17 – 09/30/17: $315.86
10/01/17 – 05/31/18: $252.01
TOTAL cost over next 12m: $3,279.46

PEPCO MD - RESIDENTIAL TIME METERED SERVICE:
06/01/17 – 09/30/17: $278.47
10/01/17 – 05/31/18: $262.25
TOTAL cost over next 12m: $3,211.84

So there's no real consistency of one tariff being more economical and, more importantly, the difference between the regular and the timed tariff is negligible, and within the timed tariff, the difference between on-peak and off-peak rates is so small that there's very little incentive to change lifestyle.

Way to go PEPCO!

Oh, and on another note, does anybody have any experience upgrading from a 200A to a 400A service with Pepco Md?

 

[jason1466]

As I switched to Pepco supply just in time for them to cancel the metered ev plan last year, I now charge my car in the middle of the day to make it hurt just a little . On the positive side, I think Pepco has convinced me to install a 25kW solar system with powerwalls from Tesla Energy. If I can work the solar price a bit more, and complete it after 12/2017 to get the new $5K MD battery credit, it seems a 20y transferable loan might meet or beat the price Pepco has risen to this year. I am assuming Pepco wont be lowering the price anytime soon.

 

[jason1466]

and complete it after 12/2017 to get the new $5K MD battery credit

Turns out the Maryland battery credit is basically a farce. Commercial projects can get 75K of the annual 750K allotment. That means 10 projects are already waiting to grab all the money I presume. Maybe they will allow a couple residential 5K projects to sneak in on January 2nd at 9:01am. Maybe one will be me, but most likely my install timing will fail. I also notice MD gives 1K for a solar system, but not if you install over 20kW, so that one is gone for me as well unless I install a smaller system on my roof and use more grid power. Not sure who thought that one up.

 

[MacGreiner]

Has anything changed since the last post? I would gladly defer charging to night hours to help balance their generation loads and to get a better rate. Until then, I will charge during their peak times without penalty or guilt.

 

[jason1466]

Has anything changed since the last post? I would gladly defer charging to night hours to help balance their generation loads and to get a better rate. Until then, I will charge during their peak times without penalty or guilt.

Noting has changed to my knowledge in terms of Pepco metered rates being unavailable. On the battery credit, I may be lucky enough to get it as the MD Energy Dept set aside 225K of the 750K for residential projects. My Tesla Solar w/ PowerWall install completed Jan 29th, and the application for credit went live Feb 9th.

I love the Solar with Powerwall already as I can see Net-0 days even before Net-Metering kicks in. Only the sun charges the batteries, and then the whole home uses that during the evening. It sounds rude, but I am looking forward to the next storm outage.

 

[bhakan]

Noting has changed to my knowledge in terms of Pepco metered rates being unavailable. On the battery credit, I may be lucky enough to get it as the MD Energy Dept set aside 225K of the 750K for residential projects. My Tesla Solar w/ PowerWall install completed Jan 29th, and the application for credit went live Feb 9th.

I love the Solar with Powerwall already as I can see Net-0 days even before Net-Metering kicks in. Only the sun charges the batteries, and then the whole home uses that during the evening. It sounds rude, but I am looking forward to the next storm outage.

Jason, are you referring to the 30% rebate for the Powerwall installation? I have ordered the Powerwall few weeks ago. I installed solar and it was by Solar City. Do we know how much of the allowed 225K? Is it publicly available? I have a Generac generator 17KW which is not quite whole house but covers 80% if I have to lose power.

 

[jason1466]

Jason, are you referring to the 30% rebate for the Powerwall installation? I have ordered the Powerwall few weeks ago. I installed solar and it was by Solar City. Do we know how much of the allowed 225K? Is it publicly available? I have a Generac generator 17KW which is not quite whole house but covers 80% if I have to lose power.

Yes, Maryland has a rebate program for Energy Storage Systems. It is 30% up to $5K for residential or $75K commercial, but there is a hard cap of $750K per year with no carryover. Of that $750K, they will allocate $225K to residential projects. Have a look here: Energy Storage Tax Credit Program - Tax Year 2018

 

[bhakan]

Yes, Maryland has a rebate program for Energy Storage Systems. It is 30% up to $5K for residential or $75K commercial, but there is a hard cap of $750K per year with no carryover. Of that $750K, they will allocate $225K to residential projects. Have a look here: Energy Storage Tax Credit Program - Tax Year 2018

Thanks. I will check into it.