Residential Demand Billing

Category: Billing Center

At OVEC, we pay our power supplier a fee for the peak demand we set as a utility each month. The demand charge on your bill reflects how much demand your home put on the system during peak times.  

Households require different power levels throughout the day. When kids are at school and adults are at work, usage drops. When everyone returns home at night, usage peaks as the dishwasher runs, a load of laundry is started, and showers and baths are taken. The amount of power needed to supply everything in your home is known as demand. 

Peak times are 6 AM-8 AM and 4 PM-8 PM every day of the week. 

Here are a few ways to reduce your demand:

• Reduce your usage during peak times.  
• Spread out your energy usage. Don’t run your stove, dishwasher, clothes dryer,  water heater at the same time. 
• Adjust how you use your appliances. Even small adjustments to your thermostat can have an impact on your electricity usage.

Check out the demand calculator to learn how different appliances affect your electricity consumption. You can see how the cost of running several appliances at once adds up, compared to staggering the usage of each appliance.