Time-of-Day Use (TOU)

Every day and each season brings new demands for electricity. In most cases, demand is low during the late night/early morning period, rises with the day and reaches its highest point in late afternoon/evening after people come back home, use lights and appliances and turn on air conditioning. Many companies in the energy industry have adopted time-of-use (TOU) charges to encourage a balanced use of the grid. ToU means that how much you pay for electricity depends on the day, the time and occasionally the season. At “on-peak” times, the electricity rate is the highest because demand is highest too. You can get the most affordable prices for transportation during the off-peak hours of night or weekends. Occasionally, there are times known as mid- or shoulder periods, where rates are somewhere between high and low. TOU allows customers to be encouraged to use their resource-consuming appliances (such as dishwashers, washing machines or battery chargers) outside of the peak hours. This means people use less electricity and, all together, limit the electrical grid’s maximum demand which may mean delaying the need for new power plants.