Xcel Time of Use Rates in Colorado

[voip-ninja]

Hey guys, a google search took me to this thread as I only recently discovered the ability to sign up with Xcel for their EV plan.

I currently have a 7,000 watt residential solar installation we installed 5 years ago and at the time we opted for the permanent net metering option vs. the option to get monthly/annual payments back from Xcel.

We have a toddler at home with a nanny and our major appliances do get run throughout the day, we also have an older 6 seer air conditioner that sucks a ton of juice... we will probably be replacing that with a higher efficiency unit in a few years (current unit still running strong after 12 years so would be a waste to junk it now).

Does the EV plan make sense? For those of you who signed up for it, can you use any electrician you want after Xcel puts the meter in? It seems from their verbiage that you have to use a breaker panel that Xcel approves but can use your own electrician to do the work.

How much did most of you spend on the electrical installation piece? If I was going to go through all of this trouble I would probably have 80 amp service on a HPWC run to my garage.

Thanks all.

 

[MorrisonHiker]

@voip-ninja Xcel doesn't have an EV plan in Colorado yet. So far, they only have their General Plan, Time of Use Pricing, or Peak Demand Pricing.

This thread is about their Time of Use (TOU) plan.

 

[voip-ninja]

@voip-ninja Xcel doesn't have an EV plan in Colorado yet. So far, they only have their General Plan, Time of Use Pricing, or Peak Demand Pricing.

This thread is about their Time of Use (TOU) plan.

Ah... I looked again and the documents I found were indeed for Minnesota.

So, how does the TOU plan in Colorado pan out for EV owners who also have residential solar installation and are covered by an existing 20 year contract with Xcel?

It seems from what I've been getting from skimming this big thread that if I do vehicle charging off peak and don't change anything else it should still save me a bit of cash.

 

[MorrisonHiker]

Ah... I looked again and the documents I found were indeed for Minnesota.

So, how does the TOU plan in Colorado pan out for EV owners who also have residential solar installation and are covered by an existing 20 year contract with Xcel?

It seems from what I've been getting from skimming this big thread that if I do vehicle charging off peak and don't change anything else it should still save me a bit of cash.

Hopefully a few owners here with solar will chime in. I don't have solar yet but I'm currently saving about 25-30% a month.

 

[Zaxxon]

Hopefully a few owners here with solar will chime in. I don't have solar yet but I'm currently saving about 25-30% a month.

Quick update here. I've been pleased with the TOU rate in general. I just got my February bill, and thought it'd be interesting to post some results from that since it's decidedly not the optimal time of year for this plan--the solar array is producing near its low point for the year, and the vehicles are using more electricity than usual. I should also note that in the fall we switched to a heat pump for our primary heating at home (gas furnace as backup for really cold days) which has the net effect of also increasing our electrical usage (while dropping gas usage), so our usage in Feb is likely a bit higher than 'usual.'

Solar production: 256 kWh (our average/mo for the year is around 480 kWh)
Net delivered by Xcel: 1092 kWh
Net on peak by Xcel: 23 kWh
Net shoulder by Xcel: 243 kWh
Net Off Peak by Xcel: 825 kWh

Doing the math on this, 75.5% of our usage was at the lowest, off-peak rate. 22.3% at shoulder rate, and 2.1% at the highest rate. The cost for our electricity was $114.72 ($0.105/kWh), but we subscribe to WindSource to procure that power from wind farms. Remove that optional charge ($16.38) and that all-in cost/kWh is $0.09/kWh.

Looking back at my bill history, since changing to ToU (July, 2017 bill was the first fully on that rate), my all-in rate incl WindSource has been:

6585 kWh delivered by Xcel, at a cost of $627.37, for a $0.105/kWh cost. So again, net cost removing WindSource is $0.09/kWh over a period spanning approximately half of the best and half the worst months for solar. Looking at the same period from 2016-2017 (July-Feb), we used 4753 kWh (hadn't yet added our Leaf yet!) at a cost of $600.38 for a $0.126/kWh cost, or around $0.111/kWh sans WindSource. So in our case, we're saving around $0.02/kWh, or 19%, with the TOU plan vs the general plan if this data holds for the long-term.

For min/maxers out there, our lowest monthly cost/kWh sans WindSource since moving to ToU was August (huge solar month nuking the peak/shoulder usage) at $0.074/kWh. Highest was January, at $0.092/kWh.

We do what I'd characterize as a medium amount of ToU thinking--we normally charge the vehicles after 9 PM, we have the AC/heat set slightly less aggressively during the 2p-6p weekday peak period (by one degree--nothing huge), we run the dishwasher probably 70% of the time after 9 PM (but do run it during shoulder periods as needed, trying only to avoid the 2p-6p peak period), and we probably do around 30% of our laundry during the off-peak time. Most of the rest of the laundry is done on shoulder. So we've adjusted our behaviors to fit the TOU plan a bit, but not what I'd consider drastically--if I need a charge during the day, I do it, for example.

The biggest drivers of success with this TOU plan, in my opinion, are having a solar array (even a relatively small one like ours--4.2kW) to shave down your peak and shoulder usage, and putting many of your big juice-consumers to the off-peak 9p-9a period--EVs and the dishwasher are great fits for that scenario.

I hope this helps some of you who are on the fence regarding the plan.

 

[nwdiver]

I've been pleased with the TOU rate in general.

Be grateful your utility is Colorado Xcel. Not its Evil twin SPS...

To summarize... this SPS victim generated more energy than they consumed and they owe $90....

Think this is absurd? Let them know...

Evan Evans is the policy coordinator of SPS Xcel
p: 806-378-2930
m: 806-678-7193
[email protected]

 

[Zaxxon]

That is indeed absurd.

 

[MorrisonHiker]

We just got solar installed last week and are waiting for Xcel to approve things, install the meters and grant PTO. I don't know if I'll be getting the bidirectional meter but I do have spaces for two meters now, one for consumption and one for generation. Do those of you with bidirectional bridge meters (@Zaxxon and @MrClown ) also have a solar generation/production meter?

 

[Zaxxon]

@MorrisonHiker: Yes, we have a dedicated production meter as well as the bidirectional meter.

 

[MrClown]

@MorrisonHiker: Yes, we have a dedicated production meter as well as the bidirectional meter.

My solar was installed a decade ago before separate production meters were used. I only have a bidirectional TOU meter. They just installed a couple powerwalls a few weeks ago and they thought they might have to add a production meter but in the end they did not because the solar wasn't being changed.

 

[Zaxxon]

Sorry, I meant 'we' as in 'my wife and I,' Wasn't trying to speak for @MrClown .

 

[MrClown]

Sorry, I meant 'we' as in 'my wife and I,' Wasn't trying to speak for @MrClown .

Hah, I didn't take it that way, I shouldn't have quoted your post.

 

[303JeffB]

Going up on a year with PV and TOU rates. We do have both a PV Production meter as well as a net meter for consumption. XCEL seems to have a problem with this combination - in the 12 months I've been running, they have only managed to issue bills with actual readings from the combination 2 times, 12/17 and 1/18. It took them from August to December to get the Production meter to read and communicate with their system, got 2 consecutive months, then something happened between the meters and now they are both recording, but neither meter is reporting to the mothership. I have not gotten an electric bill since 2/14, despite calling "customer service" monthly to see when they are planning to get this fixed.

 

[SageBrush]

I feel fortunate to not be an Xcel customer.
My rural electric coop installed a bi-directional meter -- end of story.

And even that meter was apparently installed in every home when the utility changed providers. I'm told the bi-directionality was a software switch.

 

[4x14ers]

@MorrisonHiker: Yes, we have a dedicated production meter as well as the bidirectional meter.

I am curious if TOU pricing changes your net metering for solar production. I am on net metering (2010) and want to make sure my favorable production rates (same as consumption) aren't altered by this new program.

 

[303JeffB]

I am curious if TOU pricing changes your net metering for solar production. I am on net metering (2010) and want to make sure my favorable production rates (same as consumption) aren't altered by this new program.

Not sure whether this is a change or not, but my understanding is that under TOU, both the net meter and the production meter track time, so consumption and generation can be valued at the appropriate time pricing.

I don't know the program when you connected but currently there are a couple ways to value any excess production - the default is for excess to accumulate over the calendar year, then be cashed out at their annual incremental average cost (last year that was about $0.015/kWh). You can also make a one time, non revokable election to convert excess production into a credit monthly, priced at the time value it was generated - peak kWh at peak pricing, shoulder at shoulder, etc. This credit value stays in your account forever, applied against billed consumption, or until you terminate service or remove your solar system, then it's forfeited.

 

[4x14ers]

Not sure whether this is a change or not, but my understanding is that under TOU, both the net meter and the production meter track time, so consumption and generation can be valued at the appropriate time pricing.

I don't know the program when you connected but currently there are a couple ways to value any excess production - the default is for excess to accumulate over the calendar year, then be cashed out at their annual incremental average cost (last year that was about $0.015/kWh). You can also make a one time, non revokable election to convert excess production into a credit monthly, priced at the time value it was generated - peak kWh at peak pricing, shoulder at shoulder, etc. This credit value stays in your account forever, applied against billed consumption, or until you terminate service or remove your solar system, then it's forfeited.

Thanks for the reply. I have been on traditional residential pricing, but it seems to me that because PV production occurs at shoulder or peak rates, it would make sense for PV owners to switch to TOU. Especially if EV charging occurs between 9pm-9am.

 

[303JeffB]

Thanks for the reply. I have been on traditional residential pricing, but it seems to me that because PV production occurs at shoulder or peak rates, it would make sense for PV owners to switch to TOU. Especially if EV charging occurs between 9pm-9am.

Good point - that's why I changed to TOU, my charging is essentially done at the off-peak rates.

 

[Zaxxon]

That's all correct. I receive credits at the appropriate TOU level to match production time. Each month I typically have a net usage of solely off-peak kWh as my shoulder and peak usage is completely offset even by our relatively small 4.2 kW system.

 

[4x14ers]

That's all correct. I receive credits at the appropriate TOU level to match production time. Each month I typically have a net usage of solely off-peak kWh as my shoulder and peak usage is completely offset even by our relatively small 4.2 kW system.

In trying to compare apples to apples, I'm trying to figure out what else Xcel is including in the bill. In other words, if you switch to TOU, are the charges for the following ALSO added to the bill?
Trans Cost Adj
Elec Commodity Adj
Demand Side Mgmt Cost
Purch Cap Cost Adj
CACJA
Renew. Energy Std Adj
GRSA