Time of Day
Time of Day, or Time of Use as it’s also known, is a type of energy rate plan that utilities, like PSEG LI, can implement that allows for lower energy costs during low-demand time periods and higher energy costs during high-demand time periods. This type of payment plan can be used to encourage customers to use more electricity during off-peak hours to ease the demand on the power grid during peak periods, like the middle of the day, to decrease the chances of blackouts or brownouts.
Typically a Time of Day plan will have 2-3 rates for the cost per watt of energy used by a home. They can be categorized as Peak and Off-Peak, and sometimes include Super Off-Peak. Check with your local utility for which packages are offered and what hours are considered Peak or Off-Peak as they may vary from location to location.
Long Island residents will be able to choose from two Time of Day plans that will give them either two or three energy rates depending on when they plan to use their electricity. The highest rates will occur during Peak periods with the lowest during Super Off-Peak.
- 6AM-3PM: Off-Peak
- 3PM-7PM: Peak
- 7PM-6AM: Off-Peak
OR
- 6AM-3PM: Off-Peak
- 3PM-7PM: Peak
- 7PM-10PM: Off-Peak
- 10PM-6am: Super Off-Peak
Customers who take advantage of using electricity during the more affordable Off-Peak or Super Off-Peak hours can play a more active role in keeping their monthly electricity bills down. This can mean running a dishwasher or charging an electric vehicle overnight instead of during peak periods when the power grid is managing the most energy.
Time of Day and Energy Storage
For customers in Time of Day plans who have solar and energy storage, your backup batteries can help you take advantage of the lower rates. For example, solar and storage customers can change their energy storage batteries during Off-Peak hours, use their stored electricity during Peak hours, avoiding the higher energy costs and taking pressure off the power grid, and then recharge their battery again with the energy created from their solar panels during the low-cost Off-Peak hours.
Time of Day and Net Metering
For Long Island solar customers with Net Metering, as it pertains to Long Island’s PSEG Time of Day plan, it will be important to have an understanding of when your solar panels create renewable energy and when your home is using that energy. Net Metered energy credits can be used to offset excess energy use during the time period in which the energy was created. For example, if your solar panels generated credits during Peak hours, those credits can be used during Peak hours. The same goes for Off-Peak. If you wish to transfer energy credits from Peak hours to Off-Peak hours, or vice-versa, you can call PSEG**.
For customers outside of Nassau and Suffolk counties with Time of Day or Time of Use plans, please contact your local utility to learn more about how solar energy credits work with their program.
**More details to come as PSEG’s Time of Day plan rolls out. PSEGLI customers without net metering will be enrolled in 2024 and those with net metering, or customers with solar panels, will be enrolled in Time of Day in 2025.
