PSEG and change to RLM time of use Billing

[YauKwan]

Im posting my adventures with getting PSEG to change my standard residential billing(RS) to Time of Use billing(RLM) and hoping some of my experience and some of my contacts will be useful for someone looking to do the same thing in North Jersey PSEG area.

So i've reach out more than a month ago asking PSEG about their time of use billing rate and seeing if it would save me money.

the breakdown for RLM
Monthly charge is $13.98
your peak energy charge is $0.27 per kwh (7:00am to 9:00pm regular and 8:00am to 10:00pm during daylight savings monday through friday)
your off-peak is $0.09 per kwh (all other times that are not peak.)

The breakdown for RM
Monthly charge is $2.98
0-600kwh is $0 .18
Greater thatn 600kwh is $.195

For the most part, if you are working during the day and planning on charging your car at night you will save money. So i scheduled an appointment to get my meter swapped out and start on the RLM billing rate. The next appointment they have is for A MONTH later. Ok, i schedule it.

A month later, took a day off and waited the WHOLE day for PSEG to come and setup the new meter. No one shows up. I call them the next day to find out whats going on. Apparently my appointment was cancelled as a duplicate appointment. Eh.. i dig further, as i didnt have a duplicate appointment and super mad i wasted a month and a day.

The customer service people at PSEG failed to setup the appointment correctly. Only a manager is able to authorize a change to RLM time of use service. In addition you have to ask for a specific thing. Then you need to confirm with the meter people that the appointment is correct.

So the steps to avoid frustration is.

1. call customer service 1800-436-7734 press 0 twice to get to customer service.
2. ASK FOR A MANAGER right away. Front end CS is useless
3. Request for a change to RLM billing from your regular billing.
4. Have the manager confirm he checked the box for "Rate Change Order"
5. Ask for the number for your local meter people. IF he is unwilling to give it to you, i have one you can PM me for it, but it may be area specific.
6. call the Meter people and make sure the appointment is correct for a RLM meter change out.
7. If its wrong, the manager has the ability to conference in the meter people. Dont let them off the hook unless its all confirmed.
8. Wait wait wait.

Eventually, after calling back and forth between Customer service and the Meter people, i got the appointment scheduled. They came and installed the meter without me actually being there. Finally on RLM billing. Going to make sure its automatically reflected in my account this month.

Make what an ordeal. Hope my experience helps others in my area.

if this post helps you save time and/or frustration, feel free to PM me for a referral link for your new Tesla!

thanks!

 

[jaguar36]

It certainly depends on how much you drive vs how much you use for everything else, but the time of use billing for me would be significantly more expensive.

 

[bart513]

How does it fare with the use of the other electrical appliances that people use during the day? Also does anyone know about installing a PW2 in NJ and any incentives?

 

[Zidarich]

Hey guys,

Wanted to bring this back to life. Anyone have a rough idea on how to calculate if the savings for this are worth it?

For example, Teslarati has calculator that says a NJ resident, driving normally for 12,000 miles a year, will pay $569.88 annually in electricity to charge their Model 3. Assuming you charge your Tesla ONLY in off peak hours, that would get halved, with a savings of $284.94. $132.00 of those savings would be eaten up by the higher monthly fee - leaving you with a total annual savings of $152.94, or about $12.75 a month.

That could easily be offset by your electrical habits depending on how much you normally do off and on peak. Not sure if it makes it worth it.

Curious to hear others who have made the switch: Have the bills gone done significantly after switching?

 

[YauKwan]

I'll respond to this with my experience as its been almost a year.

tl;dr doubled KWH usage, bills less 30%

When i first switched over i went crazy and put everything that is not turned off during the day onto a smart switch and turned off ALL electricity to run when we are home and during off-peak.

This made the wife really angry as her ice cream was no longer cream and is now ice crystals and food were spoiling. Also no AC, no lights except rechargeable lanterns and only charging devices during off peak made wife really angry.
Upside, electric usage stayed the same with EV charging at home, cost 50% previous.

That lasted maybe two months and it was either go back to normal or get a divorce. So i chose going back to normal as that 50% savings does not make sense when threaten with 90% loss of assets in a divorce. Oh and yes i love my wife too(just in case she reads this post).

so we went back to normal, KWH usage is double previous years. But even with the increase, as most of the major usage such as AC and EV charging, running dishwasher, washer and dryer, is off-peak, we are still saving 30% from previous years.

This works for us as we work during the days, may not work as well if you work from home or enjoy convenience during the day. YMMV?

 

[EdisonFire]

I'm going to agree with YauKwan in that the cost differential doesn't seem worth it compared to what I have seen offered by other state utilities. I pay at my main and beach house the equivalent of .12/KWH round the clock. That is with Jersey Central Power & Lighting. The generation charge is .081/KWH with the delivery charges averaging .04/KWH. My basic charge for service is $2.83/month. Paying .27/KWH seems crazy especially on a hot summer day when the house becomes a rotisserie awaiting turning on the A/C at 9PM. If you have children home from school, it makes even less sense being afraid of turning anything on before 9PM. Your-off-peak of .09 compared to my .12/KWH 24/7 just doesn't merit any changes

 

[ckwong]

Any of you NJ guys thought about going solar? I installed it in Jan of this year and it is well worth it!

 

[Zidarich]

I'll respond to this with my experience as its been almost a year.

tl;dr doubled KWH usage, bills less 30%

When i first switched over i went crazy and put everything that is not turned off during the day onto a smart switch and turned off ALL electricity to run when we are home and during off-peak.

This made the wife really angry as her ice cream was no longer cream and is now ice crystals and food were spoiling. Also no AC, no lights except rechargeable lanterns and only charging devices during off peak made wife really angry.
Upside, electric usage stayed the same with EV charging at home, cost 50% previous.

That lasted maybe two months and it was either go back to normal or get a divorce. So i chose going back to normal as that 50% savings does not make sense when threaten with 90% loss of assets in a divorce. Oh and yes i love my wife too(just in case she reads this post).

so we went back to normal, KWH usage is double previous years. But even with the increase, as most of the major usage such as AC and EV charging, running dishwasher, washer and dryer, is off-peak, we are still saving 30% from previous years.

This works for us as we work during the days, may not work as well if you work from home or enjoy convenience during the day. YMMV?

Thanks for the reply.

I work from home two days a week, and my wife is a teacher and home all of July and August. I have a feeling that just us running the AC close to 24/7 in July and August would eat up most of the savings by switching.

 

[NewTMSMan]

Peak charge in NJ is just ridiculous, they really do not want any help leveling the load I guess, or they have no load issues with so much residential electricity use now. Makes no sense for me when I run the numbers, would actually increase my electric bill and I have 3 Teslas charging at home.

Solar is not the answer either unfortunately. 5 year+ payback the last time I ran the numbers, and we will only be in the house another 2-6 years at most.

 

[rlb4]

I just spoke with PSE&G about going RLM. They told me they were were phasing it out and that it would not be available any more. They told me the rates were: Peak $0.23-24/kWh and Off Peak $0.06/kWh. That total included both supply and delivery. They did not mention a monthly fee. Also, I would have to keep using the meter for a minimum of 1 yr before changing back to standard billing. I currently pay $0.166/kWh(includes both supply and delivery) and have a $4.95 mo service charge. There are no Peak/Off Peak rates. My electric usage has doubled since getting my Model 3. I work during the day(no one else is home) and charge my car at night. It seems like I would save a lot of $ switching to RLM since most of my usage is Off Peak(after 9 pm and on weekends). Anyone regret switching to RLM?

 

[Moeshorzon]

I’ve also noticed a much higher increase in my electric in the 6 months since I’ve gotten my M3. I don’t think RLM makes sense for me as my wife is wfh full time.

What really surprised me is how much the delivery fees were. When you got your cars anyone make any additional modifications to the type of service to account for the EV?

 

[gnuarm]

I didn't read the whole thread so forgive if my post is at all redundant. I switched to ToU (Time of Use) service in central VA (Rappahannock Coop). This actually came from the utility's call a few years ago for consumers to reduce their electric usage voluntarily during the summer peak, from 3 PM to 7 PM (or it may have been until 8). The only thing I use that has significant power draw is the A/C so I programmed mine to not run between those hours. I found the home warmed up a bit, but not tons. By the end of the period it did start to get uncomfortable. So I experimented with cranking down the temperature in the earlier part of the day. Seemed to work ok.

Then a year or two later I decide to buy the Tesla. Rappahannock's forte isn't communication, so when I inquired about the ToU they just went ahead and switched me. I guess I should have made it clear it was a question rather than a request. So for the next couple of months I played with cutting other things off during the high cost times like the hot water and not cooking. When I got the car, I could only charge from 120 V, so I bought a timer switch which seems to work well. Now the car is always off during the high cost time.

My last bill only showed 14 kWh during peak time and over 2000 kWh on peak. This was a bit extreme since it was a cold month here.

Our kWh costs are split between distribution and generation with only generation varying with time of day. Even more odd, the distribution charges are tiered so it is cheaper when you use more, but my average seems to be about $0.04/kWh. They seem to give more of a break at $0.04 /kWh off peak and $0.17 on peak for generation in the non-summer months and $0.35 summer. Looks like my summer peak rate is quite a bit higher than others.

I haven't run the numbers, but unless you cut back on A/C and heat during the peak times or run your car a LOT, I don't think ToU billing is worth it. When I get tired of playing with this I'll probably switch back. The winter is not so bad, but it is getting warm and humid by the end of the peak time. If it is going to cost me four or five times the rate at peak hours which is exactly the time I am needing A/C the most, it isn't worth it.

 

[jennykng]

Hi,

First, thank you to the person that linked me to this thread.

So in reading the above posters, RTM is what PSE&G mentioned to me when I was asking about EV program incentives for purchasing an EV.

However, I was doing some digging and found that there is a new program (see link below) that seems to be offering some sort of rebate for installation of chargers in residences. Perhaps this program is still not yet approved since it's dated Sept 2018 and it says the "proposed" program but wanted to see if anyone came across this as well and if aware of when this program will come into play. PSEG was no help because they were not even aware of this when I was speaking to the social media manager (I had attempted to contact them via FB msg as their 800 number representatives was not able to tell me anything).

https://nj.pseg.com/newsroom/-/media/98F69A6733F149789D48D73F79CBB42C.ashx

I have not setup my charger as I am still waiting for the many electricians that I had called about the job to respond back to me but wanted to see if this program is even worth the wait. My understanding it that this might be only applicable if you had not already installed the charger.

Thanks!

 

[avirtuos]

I've been logging my power usage (EV vs everything else) by time of day for a year now. I have 3 powerwalls and a 10kw solar array. I'm in NJ with PSEG and here is my analysis of the TOU rate plan.

In short, not worth it as we would save about $3 a month over a full year and that includes using the powerwalls to time shift peak loads to some extent (our powerwalls are solar tied so you can charge them from the grid to get true time shifting). These results are very dependent on your usage patterns so it may work well for some folks but not all. Here are some key things to keep in mind:

1. If you switch to TOU with PSEG you have to stay with it for 1 year before switching back. So if you have a life change that results in a load change you can get hurt by TOU (like a new kid causing you to be home more often during the day, or loss of a job resulting in more time at home at peak, etc...)
2. The $12 a month fee really eats into the benefits unless you are a heavy driver (>10000 miles a year on a MX or >13000 on an M3).

A better option is to get a 2nd meter on a TOU plan ustj for your EV if your situation allows it.

 

[gnuarm]

1. If you switch to TOU with PSEG you have to stay with it for 1 year before switching back. So if you have a life change that results in a load change you can get hurt by TOU (like a new kid causing you to be home more often during the day, or loss of a job resulting in more time at home at peak, etc...)
2. The $12 a month fee really eats into the benefits unless you are a heavy driver (>10000 miles a year on a MX or >13000 on an M3).

A better option is to get a 2nd meter on a TOU plan ustj for your EV if your situation allows it.

Kinda strange plan that charges a monthly fee. Is that just for being on this plan or is do all the plans have a fixed monthly charge as well? That's not uncommon since there are plenty of costs the local company has that don't depend on your usage.

I think if you run the numbers for a second meter you will find it is not cost effective either. The bottom line is charging your car may take more power than running your refrigerator, but it isn't so high a cost for most people that they need to do special things to offset the costs. What you pay at home is already around half what it costs to use the Superchargers.

 

[Ejl80]

Kinda strange plan that charges a monthly fee. Is that just for being on this plan or is do all the plans have a fixed monthly charge as well? That's not uncommon since there are plenty of costs the local company has that don't depend on your usage.
\

Yes, but the monthly fee is like 3 bucks a month for non TOU plans.

 

[cliftonite]

Can we do TOU billing if we have solar? Use solar during the day and the cheaper rates @ night.

 

[Ejl80]

Can we do TOU billing if we have solar? Use solar during the day and the cheaper rates @ night.

I’ve called and asked numerous reps and always have been told no. And that they are phasing our TOU completely.

 

[Stretch2727]

I have been on the RLM (TOU) rate with PSEG for a while. Definitely saves me money as we charge the cars at night. The rate at night is 7-8 cents per KWH. So with 500 KwH shifted you save $0.12 X 500 = $60. On top of that about 60% of the time you are on the off peak rate which can offset the cost of the higher peak rate even with AC during the day. Also, in the non summer months the peak rate is only a few cents more. I never did the exact calculations but I would estimated it dropped my bill $80-$100 per month. My typical use total was about 1000 Kwh per month with about 50% going to the cars.

I now have Solar, with the RLM rate so you can combine the 2. It should be the best case. Basically I am assuming I can zero out the peak rate usage and only pay the off peak rates. First bill from PSEG has more off peak generation than on peak generation which makes no sense as the only time I can generate off peak is on the weekends. Anyway PSEG is sending me the interval data by hour so I can try to see what is going on. One reason I came here to see if anyone else has this same issue.

 

[Ejl80]

I have been on the RLM (TOU) rate with PSEG for a while.

I now have Solar, with the RLM rate so you can combine the 2. It should be the best case. Basically I am assuming I can zero out the peak rate usage and only pay the off peak rates. First bill from PSEG has more off peak generation than on peak generation which makes no sense as the only time I can generate off peak is on the weekends. Anyway PSEG is sending me the interval data by hour so I can try to see what is going on. One reason I came here to see if anyone else has this same issue.

nuts. Every time I call they tell me no solar with RLM. :-/