FAQ - TOU and Residential Demand

In the formal cost of service study conducted for DPU, it was determined that certain operational costs should be recovered through a fixed charge rather than a consumption-dependent charge. The fixed charge helps to cover expenses for things like meter maintenance, grid maintenance and improvements, and salaries for field and billing personnel, which are all necessary to keep electric service running safely and reliably for our customers. The fixed service charge ensures that all customers contribute the same amount toward these necessary utility provider expenses.

If you'd like to take advantage of the discounted non-peak rate for more of your electric usage, some simple steps and a few behavior changes will go a long way in helping you offset peak hour usage. TOU and Residential Demand is designed to encourage the shifting of large electrical loads, not the everyday background load of your household (lights, refrigerators/freezers, things that you plug in and forget).

• Shift. When your routine allows for it, avoid running several large appliances at the same time. Large energy users include dryers, dishwashers, EV chargers, some cooking appliances, electric water heaters, and electric heating and cooling. Once you’ve adapted to not running all the appliances at once, you can begin to shift this usage outside of the peak hours.
• Delay and Program. More and more appliances are coming standard with “delay” features. This is common on dishwashers, but it is also becoming more common on laundry machines. If your appliances do not have a delay option, do it manually by pushing start on these machines in the morning instead of the evening. If you haven’t programmed the thermostat on your heating/cooling system, there's no better time than now! Program your system to pre-cool or pre-heat your home before peak hours. An added bonus: setting and forgetting the thermostat helps keep your home a more consistent temperature which help you avoid intensely ramping it up to reach the desired temperature.
• Energy Efficient Practices. For more general tips on increasing the energy efficiency of your home and lifestyle, check out the tips on our Conserve, Reduce, Save page.

If you have already opted out of Automated Metering Infrastructure (AMI) for meter reading, you are not eligible for TOU and Residential Demand. AMI opt-outs cover all three metered services: electricity, natural gas, and water. You can't opt out of only one service. If you do choose to opt out of AMI, you won't be able to check your utility usage online or take advantage of things like leak alerts. Those who are opted out of AMI will be billed under Schedule C, a traditional rate schedule with a fixed service charge and one commodity rate across every hour and every day. That rate is as follows:

• Commodity Charge = $0.1970 per KWh 
• Fixed Service Charge = $22.50 per month

• Energy is cheaper to produce at certain times of day and if the utility department saves, we all save.
• TOU rates are designed to help you take control of your energy use while supporting the future of energy resiliency for Los Alamos.
• The TOU structure provide electricity at a 44% discounted rate during 18 off-peak hours as compared to the rate during the 6 peak hours. 

Customers with rooftop solar systems will pay the same rates for the electricity provided by the grid as all other residential customers.