With the Time-of-Use rate, you pay different prices for electricity based on the time that you use it.

• You will receive lower rates during “off-peak” hours when overall energy demand is lower and more renewable energy is available (before 4:00 p.m. and after 9:00 p.m.).
• Electricity prices will be higher between 4:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. when the sun sets and less renewable energy is available to meet the “peak” in evening energy demand.

Plus, with TOU rates, you are more in control and have greater flexibility over your bill since you can shift your electricity use to times when it costs less. With a traditional rate that stays consistent across the day or night, the only way to save money is to not use electricity at all. 

The Time-of-Use rate gives you more control over your electric bills and offers opportunities to save money by shifting energy use away from the peak hours (4-9 p.m.) when power costs more. (For example, you can change the time of day that you do laundry or run your dishwasher.)

You can also save money if you reduce your overall energy use. Consider unplugging small household appliances, or installing smart power strips or ENERGY STAR-rated appliances and equipment. Additionally, the Time-of-Use Rate saves the cooperative money by reducing our system peak load, decreasing power costs; savings that we pass through to all members.

To make this simple and easy to remember, there is a 5-hour window, 4 p.m. to 9 p.m., when on-peak (or the highest cost/rate) occurs.

Off-peak hours are all day, every day–except during the peak hours of 4 p.m. to 9 p.m.

These time frames are the same every day, year-round, and do not change seasonally.

Your electricity usage charges are based on the rate (off-peak or on-peak) that applies to the time period when the usage occurs. Your bill will show these as individual line items for your current electricity use each month. It is important to keep in mind as you review your bill:

• During times when high demand occurred in a month, the cost of fuel that is used to generate power is noted as a pass-through (called the Power Cost Adjustment). The cooperative does not make any additional revenue from this item. This fluctuates on a monthly basis and typically is not greater than $0.005.

There are a couple of options you have to discover your past energy usage. 

First, historical energy use is available to you 24/7 and can found in our secure, SmartHub account management portal. Visit our SmartHub webpage to get started or login. 

1. Navigate to the My Usage tab
2. Navigate to Usage Explorer
3. Look for the Green Button - Download My Data
4. Analyze using hourly data measure across high and low use months (high use months normally are Summer or Winter like July, June, August or November, December and January). 

Another option is to call us at 970-242-0040 and our member services team can provide you an estimated percentage of on-peak use and off-peak use based on your account history. 

A big misconception we often hear is that a member household feels their energy consumption is 50% on-peak and this simply is not true. What is true, is that most residential consumers see approximately 25% of their energy consumption during peak periods, and 75% of their electricity is used during the lower-priced off-peak hours. 

Prepay account balances update daily, depending on the amount of kilowatt-hours (kWh) used. Low balance notices are sent based on your preferences. The system defaults to a seven-day low balance notice, based on your usage.

Budget bill members' energy usage is analyzed annually on the anniversary of when they signed up for service, and the bill amount is adjusted if necessary. 

Members benefit the most from lower pricing when you can shift your usage to off-peak hours. Scheduling irrigation pumps to run outside of on-peak time is ideal. If this is not an option or you must irrigate during peak time, try to reduce the amount of time. Irrigation meters also have a slightly different rate, as detailed on gvp.org/rates.