OK - starting to analyze all the active, residential plans in the entire database, since I have unpacked the database a bit more. I’m trying to take a look at all the plans, but focusing in on the utilities with the most plans for discussion here:
Top 25 Utilities - Distribution of ToU periods/time domains
Here’s a view of the top 25 utility and their distribution of rate plans by period. Zero periods means the rate plan relies on something other than time to calculate rates. Many utilities have plans that are mostly just 1 rate period - a straight tariff, though they might also have tiering on top of that (next section). My PG&E EV rate plan has 6 different pricing periods, 3 time periods per day x 2 seasons (winter/summer). Based on this matrix, there are some rate plans, not associated with the top 25 utilities, that have 9 periods.
Top 25 Utilities - Distribution of Tiers
Here’s the same chart looking at the distribution of tiering across utilities. Yes there are some rate plans that have up to 9 tiers. As I have seen earlier in evaluating PG&E plans, there are a number that have both ToU and usage tiering components. In the database, tiering is expressed as a kWh/day breakpoint, but I know in the case of PG&E, the tiering calculation is only performed on a billing cycle basis (not daily) and the daily breakpoints are summed over the billing period, to form billing period breakpoints. This is a a good example of one of the places where the OpenEI database is probably not sufficient to get the calculation right.
Top 25 Utilities - Distribution of Net Metering Plans
Here’s the same view for distribution of Net Metering eligible plans. I say Net Metering eligible because, in some states/utiltiies, the number of solar installs might have surpassed certain limits. In those cases, not all Net Metering plans are available to post-limit customers. In California, the initial net meting plan, NEM1, has one set of rules, while newer customers entered under NEM2 rules which limited them to a smaller set of ToU plans.
Top 25 Utilities - Demand Charges
Here are the top 25 by the number of rate plans with demand charges.
I have also included my master spreadsheet here for anybody who wants to play around and examine.
ResRates.xlsx (482.6 KB)