Picking the right electric plan

[ribsandbbqbeef]

I'd like some help deciding on the right electric plan. I live in Orange County, Southern California with Southern California Edison as my electricity provider. Currently I'm on the residential plan. Each tier jumps every 300 kwh of electricity consumed.

My monthly consumption without the Tesla ranges from average low of 300 kwh during fall & spring to high of 600 kwh during peak of summer. On average, I plan to use on average 100 kwh monthly in addition to the above to charge my Tesla.

My round trip work commute is 4 miles daily. I do shift work with start times of 6am, 7am, 8am, 11:30am, 2pm, 4pm, 8:30pm, & 10pm. I plan to charge my Tesla to 90% SOC on my non work days, wait 30-60 mins to let the batteries rebalance, then drive 30-60 miles to bring down the SOC. That way, my batteries will rebalance at least once per week, After that I'll keep the SOC at 50% during my work week until my next non working day. I'll drive very few miles most of the week but will charge at random times during the day, & I'll drive more miles 1-2 times per week, when I can try to charge between 12am-6am, unless I'm getting off an overnight shift, in which case I'd be charging during peak hours before using the car in the afternoon / evening. Which one of the following electric plans will save me the most money?

(cut & pasted from: SCE website)

Residential Plan

You can charge an electric vehicle on your current Residential Plan (Schedule D) or any applicable residential rate plan. The standard residential rate plan has five tiers. As more electricity is used within any billing period, the cost per kilowatt hour increases. It can be the best option for households whose electricity usage is high between 10 a.m. and 9 p.m. See the full Residential Plan details and find out more about other residential rate plans for which you may qualify, and view the chart below for more information on rate.

Residential Rate Plan (Schedule D)*

Tier 1 Rate	Tier 2 Rate	Tier 3 Rate	Tier 4 Rate
13 ¢ /kWh	16 ¢ / kWh	27 ¢ / kWh	31 ¢ / kWh

• Notes About this Rate Plan
• Effective April 1, 2013.

*Tier cost are for demonstration only, not to be used for calculations



Home & Electric Vehicle Plan
The Home & Electric Vehicle Plan uses a single meter to measure energy used by your entire home, including your electric vehicle. It offers “super low” rates from midnight to 6 a.m., low off-peak rates from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m., and higher on-peak rates on weekdays between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. This rate plan is often selected by people who are able to shift both their household electricity consumption and their electric vehicle charging to off-peak, evening, and overnight hours.

This rate plan has 2 tiers. As with any tiered rate plan, the cost per kilowatt hour rises as more electricity is used within a billing period. With this rate plan, rates change seasonally too, rising in summer and dropping in winter. See the full Home & Electric Vehicle Plan details and view the chart below for more information on times and rates.

Home & Electric Vehicle Plan (TOU-D-TEV)

	Summer		Winter
	Tier 1 Rate	Tier 2 Rate	Tier 1 Rate	Tier 2 Rate
On-Peak 10 AM - 6 PM weekdays	28 ¢ / kWh	47 ¢ / kWh	16 ¢ / kWh	35 ¢ / kWh
Off-Peak All other times	12 ¢ / kWh	31 ¢ / kWh	11 ¢ / kWh	30 ¢ / kWh
Super Off-Peak Midnight to 6 AM every day	9 ¢ / kWh	9 ¢ / kWh	10 ¢ / kWh	10 ¢ / kWh

Notes About This Rate Plan:

• Home and electric vehicle energy are measured using a single meter.
• Tier 2 rates apply when your home and electric vehicle usage exceeds 130% of your region’s baseline allocation.
• Effective April 1, 2013.

Electric Vehicle Plan
On the Electric Vehicle rate plan, electricity used to charge your electric vehicle is billed through a separate meter at a different rate than electricity used by the rest of your home. Lower rates apply during off-peak hours of 9 p.m. to noon. Rates change seasonally, and are higher in summer.

We will install the second meter as long as your home’s electrical infrastructure can support it. If you are considering moving to this rate plan, you’ll want to speak to a qualified electrician to understand the costs involved. This rate plan is often selected for those who cannot shift the rest of their household load to off-peak hours but can charge their electric vehicle after 9 p.m. See the full Electric Vehicle Plan details and view the chart below for more information on times and rates.

Electric Vehicle Plan (TOU-EV-1)

	Summer	Winter
On-Peak Noon – 9 PM every day	33 ¢ / kWh	23 ¢ / kWh
Off-Peak 9 PM – Noon every day	11 ¢ / kWh	11 ¢ / kWh

Notes About this Rate Plan

• Rates are for separately metered electric vehicle usage. Energy used for the home will be billed according to your existing home plan.
• Rates are effective April 1, 2013.

 

[montgom626]

Darn! I pay 5 cents off peak! 7a-7p

 

[Ampster]

Darn! I pay 5 cents off peak! 7a-7p

And what part of the USA would that be?

 

[montgom626]

And what part of the USA would that be?

Southeast Wisconsin.

 

[darthvdr]

I just picked up a solar system with SolarCity. Not the greatest in customer service, but I've seen a reduction in rates by over 50% and that's with the MS. That's quite the investment.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

Is this a trick question? I think the answer is "It doesn't matter, you bought a Model S for a commute you could cycle or do in a Leaf so you don't xare about the cost."

OK, being serious
- you need to know your overall electricity usage pattern
- are you an early riser on your off days, such that you could charge Super off-peak and manage the battery?
- Can you add solar?
- Have you looked for efficiency savings to lower your current electricity use?

 

[ribsandbbqbeef]

Is this a trick question? I think the answer is "It doesn't matter, you bought a Model S for a commute you could cycle or do in a Leaf so you don't xare about the cost."

OK, being serious
- you need to know your overall electricity usage pattern
- are you an early riser on your off days, such that you could charge Super off-peak and manage the battery?
- Can you add solar?
- Have you looked for efficiency savings to lower your current electricity use?

My family's a random time electricity user. There's almost always someone at home 24 hours a day. For me personally, as you see from my post, my shifts are random, so my charging is going to be random also.

On my days off, I try to get up by 8-9am. But don't usually go out unitl 9-10am. However on the days that I work late night or overnight shifts, I don't get home until 2:30am to 8:30am, so that means I sleep during the mornings & day, & go out in the afternoon around 4-5pm.

I plan to add solar next year

My entire home uses CFL, I unplug everything except for the DVR when I'm not at home, I make good use of my window for heating and cooling as much as possible before using the hvac.

 

[neroden]

My family's a random time electricity user. There's almost always someone at home 24 hours a day. For me personally, as you see from my post, my shifts are random, so my charging is going to be random also.

You're going to have to set up a spreadsheet.

You need to know your total electricity usage per month to figure out which "tier" you're going to be in on any of the tiered-usage plans.

You'll also need to estimate the electricity usage of the car: you can assume 1 kWh for every 3 miles, plus the vampire losses (I'm not sure what they're running at now, with the current software). If you already have the car, the usage is included in your past electric bills, and you need this number only to figure out whether it's worth separately metering the car.

I think you can assume that your eleectricity usage is the same during each of the three "time of day" periods due to your "random time" usage, so you can average the prices (on an hour-weighted basis) in order to figure out your average rate on the "House and Electric Vehicle" plan.

Set up a spreadsheet and see what the expected costs are with the three options. The separate-meter option is going to cost extra upfront so don't do it unless it's a *substantial* savings.

 

[Uncle Paul]

With driving less than 10 miles per day, I would just plug it in whenever I was home and not worry too much about it.

Set your charging times to the lowest cost time and call it a day.

Believe the anguish to get the absolute lowest electric price would not be worth the tiny $ savings.

 

[hhorwitz]

My experience was that SCE provided very little useful information and that what was provided was largely misleading. My decision was to stick with one meter and switch to TOU (time of use) billing. What I found was then a very pleasant surprise: our electric bills have actually decreased with our Tesla Model S. This is because we are now able to focus much of our household electric use to off peak and super off peak hours. Previously, it did not matter when we ran our pool filter, dishwasher, washing machine, etc. So long as we used them, the electricity counted towards our monthly totals and we ended up in Tier IV. Now, we charge the Tesla only between midnight and 6 a.m. and we use our appliances as much as possible in off peak hours (after 6 p.m. or on weekends.) The outcome is that not only do we not pay for gas for the Tesla, the total we pay for electricity each month has gone down. What makes no sense about this to me is that we were not eligible for TOU billing until obtaining the electric vehicle. That change is what is saving us money. Going to a second meter, as Solar City encouraged, would it seems have been much more costly, not only upfront but each month. I am very pleased with how this has all worked out but I feel like we got there by dumb luck. Certainly it was not anything that Tesla, SCE or Solar City assisted us on.

 

[sonysw]

My experience was that SCE provided very little useful information and that what was provided was largely misleading. My decision was to stick with one meter and switch to TOU (time of use) billing. What I found was then a very pleasant surprise: our electric bills have actually decreased with our Tesla Model S. This is because we are now able to focus much of our household electric use to off peak and super off peak hours. Previously, it did not matter when we ran our pool filter, dishwasher, washing machine, etc. So long as we used them, the electricity counted towards our monthly totals and we ended up in Tier IV. Now, we charge the Tesla only between midnight and 6 a.m. and we use our appliances as much as possible in off peak hours (after 6 p.m. or on weekends.) The outcome is that not only do we not pay for gas for the Tesla, the total we pay for electricity each month has gone down. What makes no sense about this to me is that we were not eligible for TOU billing until obtaining the electric vehicle. That change is what is saving us money. Going to a second meter, as Solar City encouraged, would it seems have been much more costly, not only upfront but each month. I am very pleased with how this has all worked out but I feel like we got there by dumb luck. Certainly it was not anything that Tesla, SCE or Solar City assisted us on.

Ditto with the above. I think Home & EV plan is reasonable as you can actually time your use accordingly.

 

[simplesolar]

Switching to TOU without knowing your usage pattern can be costly. I would stay on the current plan as you are still in relatively cheap electricity tiers. Wait until you go Solar next year before you switch over to TOU then you can benefit from over generating at 0.47 and charging at 0.11. Let me know if you nee any help with solar

 

[Ampster]

Switching to TOU without knowing your usage pattern can be costly. I would stay on the current plan as you are still in relatively cheap electricity tiers. Wait until you go Solar next year before you switch over to TOU then you can benefit from over generating at 0.47 and charging at 0.11. Let me know if you nee any help with solar

Yes, but it is easy to login to SCE and see what your hourly usage is. Then, as hhorwitz says, if you can shift your usage, TOU can save you money.