Could You Save Money with a Different Delivery Rate?
Last year, both CMP and Versant adopted new time-of-use rates for the delivery side of residential customer bills. These rates are designed to benefit folks who can shift a lot of their electric usage to off-peak times, particularly the overnight hours. Could this rate work for you? Both utilities also have another residential rate option that benefits customers who use a lot of electricity, like those who have heat with heat pumps.
Each of the available delivery options has a different service charge and price per kWh, so the best option depends on your typical usage. Wondering how to choose?
Recently, CMP launched a new tool under the “My Account” section of its website that will help CMP’s residential customers discover if they could save money by leaving the normal, default “Rate A” for the Time-Of-Use Rate or the Electric Technology Rate. The tool will run your past 12 months of usage through the different options and show how much each would cost you in a typical month.
Here’s how it works:
1. On the top right of the CMP homepage, click “Sign In/Register” and then fill in your login details.
2. Once on the account landing page, on the right, choose “Compare Rate Types” from the “Take Action” menu on the right.
3. The new tool will use your data to do the math and let you compare options. Note: Remember this is only for the CMP delivery portion of the bill; the supply price will not be affected if you change your delivery rate, and CMP’s price examples do not include supply costs.
For this example customer, the Electric Technology Rate is the best option financially, unless they have some electric load, like an EV charger or an electric dryer, that they can start to use only during off-peak hours.
For this other example customer, the default Rate A is the best option for their current usage patterns--unless they also change their usage times or amounts.
Customers could even run their own experiments before they switch rates, since the tool provides monthly data. Check the tool, then try shifting your electric usage to off-peak hours for a month, and then come back to the tool to see if time-of-use rates would have saved you money.
If you decide to switch rates based on what you learn by using this new tool, give CMP a call at 1-800-750-4000 to get that request in—or to ask any questions about how the rates work and what might be the best option for you.
To learn more about time-of-use rates and rates designed for heat pump users, check these links. The rate designs are a bit different between the two different utilities.