Real Time Pricing

It's been two or three years now since we switched.  Our electric company made us aware of an option to pay actual prices for electricity used instead of the set rate we were paying.  This meant our rate would change every hour of the day, but most of the time we would end up paying less than everyone else.  It required a one year commitment (because they had to come and change the meter on our home) and a $3/month charge to participate.  We decided to give it a try. 

We can find out what the rates will be for the next day after 4:30pm.  The only times we pay more per KWH than everyone else is when it's really hot or really cold - basically when overall usage is high.  The peak times change from summer to winter so we modify our usage (when we run the dishwasher or do laundry, for example) to take advantage of off-peak hours. 

Overall, we are using more electricity now than we used to, but we are paying less money.  One reason for the increase in our usage is that during the summer, and just since we started on this plan, we run our air conditioner all night.  The rates are very low in the middle of the night and so we're not paying much at all.  I love sleeping in a cold room and then we shut it down in the morning and keep it off during the peak hours of the day.  Our house stays cool most of the day and we are able to turn it on again in the evening when the rates go down.  This time of year is just the icing on the cake when rates are low all day long.

Of course I'm looking forward to the day we can generate our own electricity, but until then we love Real Time Pricing (also called PowerSmart Pricing) and wouldn't go back.  See below for today's rates. (I believe the set rate for those not on this plan is between .06 and .07/KWH.)