UNDERSTANDING DEMAND

At Access Energy Cooperative, we understand that electric bills can be complicated, but understanding your bill can help you learn how to control it. Generally, utilities charge a basic fee for service, which for Access Energy Cooperative members is called the “Base Charge.” Most people understand that the “Energy Charge” on your bill is the charge for how many kilowatt-hours or the amount of electricity you used for the month. Understanding the “Demand Charge” of an energy bill is more complicated and requires more education to understand.

What is Demand?

Electric demand is the rate at which electricity is used at a given time and is measured in kilowatts (kW). Even though there are no fees associated with it for residential accounts, all members can see their monthly demand as a line item on the monthly electric bill called “Demand Charge.” We provide this information to help you understand how you are using energy. The “Demand Charge” listed on your bill represents the 15-minute interval where you used the highest amount of electricity during that billing period. Beginning soon, you will notice a date next to it, that will indicate when you set that demand.

To put this into context, your dishwasher and washing machine both use electricity. The amount of electricity they use is the same regardless of when you use them. However, if you use them at the same time, you demand more electricity at that time.

Let’s see how setting a demand works.

When your washing machine it uses 0.7 KW, which would be your demand on our system for power. When your dishwasher runs, it uses 1.8 KW. If you run both of them at the same time, your demand would be 2.5 KW. Your demand becomes the total of the two added together because you need that much power at the same time.

If you could change your habits and run only one of them at a time, your highest demand for would be 1.8 KW, because it is the most demand you required at one time. The highest demand you set in one month is what you would be billed for demand if the cooperative had a fee for demand. The best way to reduce demand is by spreading your electric usage over time.

If you ever have questions about your electric bill, or questions about demand, please contact us at 866-242-4232.