Most US residential electric bills are denominated entirely in kWh, but a handful of utilities apply demand charges (measured in kW) to specific residential customer classes. Demand charges hit hardest on EV-heavy homes, hot-tub installations, and all-electric kitchens that draw heavy simultaneous load during the utility peak window. A single 15-minute peak can drive a $40 to $120 charge for the whole month. Here is which utilities bill residential demand and how to avoid it.
kW vs kWh on a residential bill
kWh measures total energy used across the billing period. kW measures the peak instantaneous draw at any 15-minute interval during the same period. They are different physical quantities and most US utilities only bill kWh on residential.
Demand-billing utilities measure peak kW during the utility's peak demand window (typically 4 pm to 9 pm on weekdays). The customer's single highest 15-minute draw during that window sets the demand charge for the whole month.
Which utilities bill residential demand
Southern California Edison (SCE) bills demand on the residential TOU-D-A1 rate. Salt River Project (SRP) in Arizona bills demand on the E-27 customer-generation rate. Georgia Power's Smart Usage plan is demand-based for residential.
A handful of other utilities offer opt-in residential demand rates for EV-heavy households who can shape their load. The 4 to 6 most common ones are listed in the post body.
How to avoid or minimize residential demand charges
Stagger major loads. Do not run dishwasher, dryer, EV charger, and AC simultaneously during peak hours. Smart-home automation handles this transparently.
Move EV charging to off-peak. Most EV chargers can schedule overnight charging. SRP and SCE both reduce demand charges to near-zero for EV households that charge after 9 pm.
Use battery storage to shift peak kW. A 10 kWh home battery (Powerwall, LG, Enphase) shaves peak kW by 5 to 8 kW reliably.
Lock the rate before the next reset.
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Quick answers from the editorial desk
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