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There are several billing categories for commercial customers. Your category depends on the peak amount of
power you used over the previous year. If at any time during the last year your
power draw exceeded 25 kW, your business will fall under one of the
"peak demand" billing categories. Under these billing categories, you get charged a rate for your total energy
usage for the month (kilowatt-hours used) plus an additional charge based on the highest amount of power drawn
at any point during the month (kilowatt demand). Xcel determines this peak demand by reading your instantaneous
power draw once every 15 minutes.
A solar PV system can be especially beneficial for a demand billing
customer, because peak power demand often coincides with peak production time of a PV system (during the middle
of the day when air conditioning is running hardest and other equipment is in operation). This means that a solar
PV system may substantially lower your peak demand, thereby lowering the demand billing portion of your energy bill
as well as the fee for your overall kWh usage.
The following descriptions of billing rates are from Xcel's website:
C- Commercial Service:
Electric rate for small commercial customers. This is the rate charged if your company consistently uses less
than 25 kilowatts (kW) of power at its highest usage point during the month. Your charges with this rate are
based solely on how much electricity in kilowatt-hours (kWh) you use each month. To qualify for this rate, your
highest 15 minutes of usage per billing period must be below 25 kW. The single line item on the bill combines
two types of charges: 1) the base rate energy charge, which is multiplied by your kilowatt-hours used, and
2) the base rate service and facility charge, which is a fixed charge for metering and billing.
SG – Secondary General:
Base electric rate for small to medium-sized commercial customers. This is the rate charged if your company
has used 25 kilowatts of power, or more, at its highest usage point during any month over the past 12 months.
Your charge per kWh is less than that charged under the Commercial rate and you pay an additional charge for
the highest 15 minutes of demand during the month. This line on your bill combines two types of charges:
1) the base rate energy charge, which is multiplied by your kilowatt-hours used, and 2) the base rate service
and facility charge, which is a fixed charge for metering and billing.
PG - Primary General:
Base electric rate for larger commercial and industrial customers who choose electric service at a higher
primary voltage and accept responsibility for furnishing, installing, operating, and maintaining step-down
transformer equipment. On this rate, the energy charge component per kilowatt-hour (kWh) is slightly less
than that charged under the Secondary General (SG) rate; and the demand charge component per kilowatt (kW)
is slightly higher than that charged under the SG rate. The monthly service and facility charge for Schedule
PG is also higher than the SG rate. The Primary General rate combines two types of charges: 1) the base rate
energy charge, which is multiplied by your kilowatt-hours used, and 2) the base rate service and facility
charge, which is a fixed charge for metering and billing.
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