TOU Reporting -- Time of Use for On-Peak/Off-Peak Usage

Technical Questions
1

My utility just started offering a discount of 4 cents/kWh for usage between midnight and 8am. And capped at 400kWh/month discounted. Not great, but very simple. I set up a new Rate Zone and set the rate to 4 cents lower than the regular rate. That’s not exactly how it works, but close enough.

Now, as I shift loads to overnight, I’m getting just about daily notifications "Your energy use is xxx% higher than average in your “my Rate Zone” rate zone. The numbers seem to be all over the board, so I’m not quite understanding what they mean. However, my main question is how do I view this data? I’m not seeing other questions on this, so I’m either missing something incredibly simple or I’m not searching correctly.

So, how can I see the usage in different rate zones?

And, secondly, how can I find out what “higher than average” means? I mean, it can’t be higher than average every day, can it? Especially on the days where I don’t plug in my EV overnight.

Thanks!

1 Like
2

Hi,

Thanks for reaching out. This is a fairly common question, especially for customers using TOU (Time of Use) rate zones. We tend to see more of these inquiries during extreme temperature months, or when sudden weather changes lead to unexpected energy consumption spikes.

You may be receiving notifications indicating that your energy usage during your designated Rate Zone is higher than average. Here’s why:

These notifications are generated when your energy consumption during a specific TOU Rate Zone significantly exceeds your historical average for that period. Several factors could contribute to this:

  • Shifted Energy Usage: If you have recently started using high-consumption devices—such as charging an electric vehicle or running large appliances—during the midnight-to-8 AM discounted period, this could lead to increased usage compared to your previous patterns.
  • Seasonal Variations: Changes in weather can affect energy consumption. For instance, colder temperatures might lead to increased heating usage, impacting your overall energy use.
    • Since TOU rate zones span multiple seasons, Sense may be calculating your baseline TOU average from a mild season, such as fall. However, when temperatures drop suddenly, energy habits may shift—people stay home, catch up on laundry, use entertainment devices, and rely more on heating systems. The combination of these factors can cause an energy usage spike.
    • While it would be helpful to see the specific baseline TOU average that notifications are based on, in your case, I would recommend focusing more on raw kWh usage rather than the percentage increases reported in the notifications.

Additionally, be aware that these notifications are based strictly on the energy usage recorded within a specific TOU rate zone. Any usage outside of that timeframe does not influence the baseline calculation. For example, if your TOU period runs from 12 AM to 5 PM and you typically use minimal power during that time, a sudden increase—such as running your air conditioning all night—could easily result in a notification stating that your usage has increased by 300%. While this is an extreme example, it illustrates how these calculations work.

A Real-World Example

To illustrate this concept, here’s an example from my own energy usage:

I live in Boston, MA, where we experience four distinct seasons with varying weather patterns.

"This also happens at my house, which is quite energy-efficient and, for its size, performs better than 94% of comparable homes. Yet, on February 4, 2023, I received a notification stating that my energy usage was 154% higher than usual. At first, this seemed odd since I hadn’t done anything significantly different that day—I slept in, made breakfast, listened to music, and went out later in the day. A very normal Saturday for me.

However, upon closer inspection, I realized that it had been the coldest day of the month, with temperatures ranging from 17°F to -9°F in the early hours. Keeping my heat running under these conditions required significantly more energy, which led to a noticeable increase compared to the fall months, when I rarely use heating or air conditioning.

I have since moved and gotten a heat pump so things have changed a lot for me with electricity. I also don’t have any personal 1:1 issues with TOU as MA does not do rate zones, at least that I am aware of.

At first, these notifications can seem alarming, but they make more sense when the numbers are broken down."

For more detailed information on managing TOU settings and understanding notifications, you can refer to Sense’s official support articles:

We are actively discussing and working on improvements to how TOU and rate zones function. While progress may take some time, I wanted to provide some insight into what to expect.

Let me know if this helps. Thanks!

1 Like
3

Hi, James, thanks for the response. I have a feeling that the explanation is simply that Sense uses a simple calculation that doesn’t consider that I just started on this rate plan and have shifted loads to overnight. I don’t know if it’s comparing each night to my average last year, before the rate became available. I think it wouldn’t be too hard to set up something that makes more sense. Two months into this, I shouldn’t be getting a notification every night that I charge my EV.

I should have been more clear in my question that my main reason for posting was to find out how to view my usage in the TOU rate zones. Obviously, Sense is tracking it, otherwise it wouldn’t be able to tell me my usage has increased or estimate my monthly bill based on that usage, but I have yet to figure out how to view my usage. Can you help me with that?

Thanks,
Mike

4

Hi,

Thanks for clarifying.

Currently, Sense does not provide a built-in way to view specific data within a rate zone. The calculations and notifications are automated, but Sense does not break down energy usage within a rate zone compared to the default rate.

The best way to determine rate data with Sense or view it is by downloading a CSV of your data and modifying it from there.

To do this: Sense Help Article.

  1. Download the CSV file.

  2. Use spreadsheet formulas (Excel, Numbers, or Google Sheets) to:

• Identify hours that fall within your rate zones.

• Multiply the total usage in those hours by the rate for that period.

• Sum up the cost across all rows that match your rate zone time range.

If you prefer a more automated approach, you can use a Large Language Model (LLM) to analyze your Sense data.

I have been trying this out with my own data and found it helpful. I don’t have rate zones in MA, but I have pretended to and was able to get clearer answers faster than playing around with spreadsheets—though that could be just me.

How to Use an LLM for Rate Zone Analysis

  1. Download your Sense data as an “Hourly” CSV.

  2. Upload the CSV into an LLM that can process spreadsheets—I have tried ChatGPT (usually the newest model available to me) or Claude (newest model).

  3. Provide the following details to the LLM:

• Your rate zones and their corresponding costs.

• The default electricity rate outside of those zones.

• Instructions to filter only “Total Usage” rows from the CSV.

  1. Ask specific questions, such as:

• “How much power was used, and how much did it cost on Mondays between 1 AM and 3 AM this month?”

• “What was my total energy cost for peak rate hours last month?”

• “Compare my total cost across different rate zones.”

Example:

“Here is my Sense data in CSV format. My rate zone from 4 PM - 9 PM is $0.25 per kWh, while the off-peak rate is $0.12 per kWh. Please filter out only the ‘Total Usage’ rows and calculate how much I spent in each rate zone over the past month.”

I find that it is accurate when verifying the data, but I would just use this to get an idea of what data you want to see and verify it if you really want to make sure it’s correct.

If you’d like to request a feature update for better rate zone reporting, you can submit feedback to the Sense product team here:

Submit Feedback.

Let me know if you need further assistance in analyzing your data. I’m happy to help! Sorry for any inconvenience.