SECO switching to time of day billing
 

SECO services most of TV as the electric utility. They have plans to switch all customers from a .11 first 1,000 kWh, .13 above 1,000 kWh: to a three tier time of day pricing plan.

Super off peak (SOP) .06 per kWh
Off peak (OP) .09
Peak (P). .23

April-Oct
12-6am SOP
6-2pm OP
2-6pm P
6-12 OP

Nov-Mar
12-6am SOP
6-9am P
9-12 OP

The SECO rep that I spoke to didn't know when this will be put in place. But the rates have been established so it's clearly not too distant.

Thanks for the information. I will have to look into getting a better thermostat so I can adjust the HVAC settings to have the system run way less during the peak hours.

Thanks for this info. However, please check the times.

Well we are going to pay a lot more

What is the source of this info?

I would think SECO would have to announce this in advance of implementation, perhaps in the SECO newsletter.

They do have an incentive program which you can sign up for if you charge your EV during Super Off Peak hours. (In the newsletter).

Hi SECO is the source, call them and ask for yourself. Call them if you have an inkling of doubt

Why don't they announce it themselves?, call them and ask them yourself. Good luck with that call as you would effectively be asking why they have poor dissemination of information.

Your welcome that I told you.

Interesting since I do not believe the current meters or metering system would be able to support REAL TIME metering. To do what is being "reported" requires one way (possibly two way) communication to the utility, or meters with accurate TOD clocks and the ability to store all of this information for a monthly reading.
The other item to consider is if Duke and Florida Power actually have similar rates in place for SECO to buy power at the proposed levels to support the proposed rates. If have not seen any announcements from either of these utilities, or associated news article about the very significant changes to rates, ALL of which require approval from Florida government.
Just my humble opinion.

Change the timing of your pool equipment.

Call them and ask them why they have not done this. I have met the SECO PR person professionally ( not about this topic), I was not impressed nor surprised there has been no mention of this. Any SECO customer service representative will tell you if specifically asked.

Will these new rates require smart meters, why yes, it will. Do new home installs have smart meters already, probably. Will this deployment/retrofit take time, yes it will, probably by subcontractors.

Why hasn't your paid elected SECO trustee told you about this?, I have met her and no I wasn't impressed. BTW she isn't a TV resident. Interesting that three TV residents ran against her this spring.

I suspect an official announcement will come out with the deployment of smart meters. In the meantime at least I told you about it.

Got fully programmable digital thermostat last year, even without these rates it was a VERY prudent purchase !

Which brand did you get?

This price structure seems to incentivize gas heat

Nov-Mar
6-9am P

Most have SECO? Really? We don't have Florida Power. We don't even have Duke Electric like the houses behind us. We get our electricity from the City of Leesburg. The few times we lost power the houses behind us did not making me wish we had Duke. Good luck with your time of use billing. Don't ever sign up for letting them decide when to cycle your power.

It looks like it is going to be really expensive to use the air conditioner in the summer afternoons!!

Tinker raises a good point. Those of us without “smart” meters with the ability to record/report TOD useage could not be subject to this billing method. Or would we? Maybe by applying a temporary weighted rate equivalent to those with meters until new meters are installed?

Yeah but that would only be during the HOTTEST months of the year!! Snowbirds seem to be getting pretty good rates though. Wife suggests new rates would be a good reason to take her out to lunch and dinner instead of cooking

https://www.talkofthevillages.com/fo...-meters-67991/

Also:

Who will install the AMI meter? - SECO Energy


Scott Nelson - April 17, 2023 at 12:16 pm
Is there a schedule to when they will be rolled out in The Villages – Deluna?
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Amanda Richardson - April 18, 2023 at 1:38 pm
Thank you for your inquiry. The systemwide AMI project is scheduled to last three to four years. We don’t have particular neighborhoods scheduled at this time. Watch SECO News for updates and we will send a notification before contractors arrive.

Looks like solar panels are going to get more interest.

Looks like they plan to upgrade to the AMR meters over the next few years. Newer homes may allready have them.

One motivation could be to get ready for future increases in electric vehicles charged at home.

Mattress the rec centers will need to set up nap rooms. Anybody want to form The Villages Siesta Club?

I'll get a timer for my golf cart so it only charges on SOP times. Also program my thermostat to take advantage of SOP - Cool your house more SOP/OP times, and let it carry you through so you can set it higher during P times.

Heat really isn't an issue. Even during the coldest time of year, house retains heat pretty well, and solar radiation helps as well. I have NG so I can kick on a stove burner to heat up some water (and my house) from 6 to 9 am vs running the heat pump, if it's really cold (below freezing).

Not from me in the current configuration (whole house). Payback time too long, don't like a bunch of holes in the roof, issues with getting insurance, extra weight on roof, something else to maintain/get serviced.

Give me an AC/Heat pump that can be directly augmented by solar energy to reduce its energy consumption during peak usage/daylight hours? Now you have my attention.

Maybe they want you to self report the usage?

If I did the math right (I probably didn’t) and you used 1 kWh per hour (unlikely because most people use more electricity during the day than when they are sleeping) it would cost $2.64 a day under the old plan and $2.54 a day under the time of day usage.

I am surprised that they don’t have a weekend rate.

Our ecobee’s are programmed for sleep 9p to 6a at 73
6a to 9p at 76

My bills for all 3 houses stay about the same ($79) even though this last house is 800sf larger, newer hvac and insulation. Will see if this changes with new structure prices

Interesting news, Toymeister. I’m sure you have been analyzing all this. What have you come up with? Can you deal with turning off the AC from 2-6 in the summer and from 6-9 am in the winter (well, maybe a month with the heater on at that time). Is this likely to increase our bills? Is it likely to encourage us to turn off the AC for a few hours to save money? Would it really make that much of a difference?

I wish Duke Energy offered a tiered pricing structure. I live in Sumter county but the electricity is provided by Duke. If I keep my usage below 1000 KWh a month, I end up paying about 16 to 17 cents per KWh. That is with all the fees added in.

This is not about the money we pay for power, although that may be a slight side effect.
The goal is to lower maximum power demanded away from the time of day when huge peak times typically happen. If successful, it reduces the need for power generation capability to be high enough just to cover peak times.
Having power plants sitting idle for most of the day is expensive. This is called "spinning reserve". Elimination of that peaking power plant will save SECO a lot of expenses.
The down side is that SECO may not have spinning reserves to handle a sudden unexpected demand. When you hear of rolling blackouts in California, it's because peak demand cannot be handled by all available generators, plus spinning demand reserves.

Going into the future, as people put in solar to try to save money by reducing consumption... and more houses are built... and a very cloudy hot day occurs, the peak demand would spike. Will SECO have sufficient reserve capacity?

Almost certainly they will swap out your meter.

This is probably the best reason I've seen for installing solar panels on one's roof.

I have analyzed the new pricing and I am predicting lower bills. My strategy is super cooling the home, changing the pool pump timing, using delay start on the dishwasher and charging the car stating at midnight. Most already mentioned here.

I recently did a hard data reset on my whole house energy monitor so I don't have enough hard data to precisely monetize this. Frankly,I'm not going to change my lifestyle to hyper save on a utility bill.

My effective electric cost per gallon equivalent for my PHEV will be 88.6 cents per gallon. This brings the premium paid for a PHEV into the reasonable payback realm.

Doesn't Tesla have a time-shifting power storage system? You charge it during cheap off-peak hrs and then use that power during peak hrs.
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_Powerwall

I did put solar panels on just two months ago and the savings on electricity is more than recouping on a monthly basis the cost of the installation. And with 25 years of warranty and electricity going up (probably) I am in a great position

I called billing just now and are unaware of time of day billing at this time could not confirm in the future.

If we were 10-15 years younger and going into a new house would seriously consider. At this stage of life with 13 year old roof, do not see it as a worthwhile investment.

In their 2022 annual meeting they discussed the roll out of smart meters.

In the meeting they said that they plan to install 7,000 to 9,000 smart meters per month. So to convert everyone they say it will take 3 to 4 years. These meters have the ability to provide realtime usage information in 15 minute increments

Ballpark, what does it cost to install solar panels? I thought the government provided huge tax benefits for installing solar panels.

And how much are you saving a month with solar power? I have always read that you start breaking even after 25 years. Probably won’t be here in 2048.

Times
 

I think you wrote 12pm when it should be 12am (midnight is 12am, noon is 12 pm)

EV Charging
 

Outstanding! Now you can put 300 miles of charge in a Tesla for $4.44 instead of $8.

I signed up for the EV charging plan. Then they installed a new meter that reports usage in real time. The man installing said that all customers will be getting the new meter. He also said we would be able to log on and see our usage in 15 minute increments.
Bob