BGE time-of-use plan details
Many of you have pointed out an omission in my recent material on Baltimore Gas & Electric's time-of-use plan, which gives discounts for electricity burned at low-demand times. The "customer charge" for TOU customers is $12 vs. $7.50 for households on the standard plan. I didn't mention it because TOU customers pay a lower delivery charge per kilowatt hour than regular customers, which basically wipes out the higher customer charge. So the rates are pretty comparable between the two plans.
Comments
Sorry, not sure I understand. Is what you're stating, then, that there's little difference in bottom-line consumer costs between the plans?
Posted by: Pete | April 29, 2008 1:09 PM
Sorry to be unclear. Readers had suggested that I had left a hidden cost out of the TOU plan. My only point is that the base costs for the standard plan and the TOU plan are about equal, so comparing the variable costs -- peak and offpeak kilowatt hour prices -- is a legitimate way to figure whether you'll save money with TOU. However, several people have posted and emailed saying that it's difficult to do, especially at present prices.
Posted by: Jay | April 29, 2008 1:18 PM