SDGE :: Electric Vehicle Time-of-Use

I looked into this up in the Bay Area, but decided against it. I have used about 100 KWh extra each month to charge each day plus a few times extra on the weekends, so it just doesn't make too much since this rate has a high peak cost. I think there are other fees with this rate also such monthly meter cost. These rates are best for Leaf's or orther electric cars with BIG batteries to charge. For me, I have a 2300sf house where I made ultra low power. My total gas and electric bill last month including charging the Plug In was only $43.55.

 

I saw the other day that some of the new Level 2 charging station can communicate with a smart meter. So that being the case are we almost to the point where a 2nd meter is no longer required if you have a smart meter and a charging station that can communicate with it?

 

It is not worth it because of the meter install requirement. Personaly I think it is all just a con by the electric utility companies to convince the public that they are interested in conservation. I have a smart meter and believe that all they have to do is to assign the lesser rate to the hours of 12AM to 6 AM, or isolate these hours on the smart meter. Otherwise the smart meter is not too smart, is it? There is probably a money motive involved, this is why they are coming up with this meter nonsense.Notvery long ago, Electric utility companies were short on power and were asking customers to lessen thier demand on AC at night, and gave a lower rate between the hours of 12AM and 6 AM. The truth is, the electric utility is a business and is only interested in making money. The only time the customer may get a deal is when demand for electricity exceeds supply!

 

tsmanz,
In answer to your original question: I'm in SCE territory, rather than SDGE, but the requirements are probably similar with regard to a separate meter. I had an electrician come out and check my wiring, etc. He told me that it would cost in excess of $2000 to put in a new, larger panel to accomodate both meters, by the time the plastering and all that was done. SCE installs the meter itself at no charge, but that is only after all the prep work is finished. In my case, the rate would drop about two cents per kWH. We are supposed to get smart meters in the next few weeks, so I will be interested to see how that affects the whole EV/PHEV program with SCE. BTW, the electrician found that the very conveniently located 120v outlet in my garage that I intended to use was well-suited to charging the car, as the only other thing on the circuit is a sprinkler timer. The inspection was suggested by SCE, and the electrician did it at no charge.

 

Here is an older post about my experience with SDGE EV-TOU-2 Plan.
As you can see my bill went down even though my consumption went up. This plan does not require any new wiring or Meter , you just need to fill in a form to activate thi splan. I will highly recommend it for people who have low peak hour consumption.

Cost per PIP Charge | Page 2 | PriusChat

 

Obviously, your district does have a good plan, but SMUD, Sacramento Utility District ( my area) is only interested in PROFIT and not conservation.

 

PG&E seems to be ahead of the other utilities in offering web tools to answer the question of whether a TOU metering plan would save money. IF you've had a smart meter installed for the past year, their web tools will calculate the annual cost for a time-of-use plan based on your historical usage. My kudos to PG&E for making that easier to sort out!

They also have a separate tool just for EV users, where you enter the vehicle type, expected mileage, and household avg. monthly kWh and they calculate the additional cost. That tool needs a little more work, but it's pretty cool that they're making the effort, IMHO.

In my case I went with a single meter TOU plan similar to SDGE's TOU EV 2 and it will save me a little money, plus it's got me looking for opportunities to push more laundry loads etc. into off-peak hours.

 

I have been trying to think through whether the sub-meter option might be better than than the regular TOU. Lots of money to put in a sub-meter, then it sounds like I'd still need to add a 240v circuit. There is an available 240v circuit going into the laundry room, and we will NEVER buy an electric dryer here in San Diego. I'd go back to stringing lines and hanging clothes outside before I'd burn amps to make heat.

But I also have to wonder if that money might go farther if we put it into solar, where there are a few more incentives. It'd be another way to keep our electric use down in the first two tiers.

I suspect that as smart meters become the norm, SDG&E will figure out a way to ream all of us in America's Finest City with prime time-of-use rates.

 

I am wondering why adding a sub-meter is so expensive. Isn't it installed separately at some point along the circuit wiring specific to charging the car? Also, is it required to be on the outside, or can it be put inside the garage somewhere as long as the smart-meter can communicate with the meters outside?

 

As I said, it is the "construction" that runs up the bill. They have to cut into the wall (and possibly studs, etc ?) to be able to install a larger electrical panel, as I understood my electrician to say. As with any job like that, one could probably put it up for bids and lower the price somewhat. As for locating the extra meter, I think it has to do with being wired into the panel itself. The existing panel I have would not accomodate two meters.

 

Again with Smart Grid Technology becoming standard in newer home chargers & the Electric Companies forcing Smart Meters on everyone, I can see the need for a 2nd meter going away real soon.

 

There may be some confusion here between a sub-meter and a second meter. From what I've learned recently, a sub-meter is not something that SDGE is involved in. They are sometimes used by a landlord to break out a tenant's usage.

In order to get a TOU rate for car charging and the regular tiered rate for other household electricity, a separate meter is required, which involves 'construction' and stucco repair.

Something of interest not mentioned in the original post is the fact that the On-Peak (noon to 6pm) rate for winter months (Nov 1 to Apr 30) is much less than in summer months, only a penny more than Off-Peak.

Time of Use rates (single meter TOU-2) winter vs summer: http://regarchive.sdge.com/documents/customer/totalrates/5-1-2011/schedule_ev.pdf

Winter
On-Peak 17.5 cents/kwh - Noon to 6pm (20% > super off peak, 4% > off peak)
Off-Peak 16.8cents/kwh - 6pm to midnight, 5am to noon (15% > super off peak)
Super Off Peak 14.6 cents/kwh - midnight to 5am

Summer
On-Peak 25.7 cents/kwh - (78% > super off peak, 55% > off peak)
Off-Peak 16.6 cents/kwh - (15% > super off peak)
Super Off Peak 14.4 cents/kwh (1.36% < winter rate)