3 Ways to Save on Your Electricity Bill
The Challenge of Rising Electricity Costs
Many Americans are all too familiar with the rising cost of electricity as they continue to receive staggering monthly bills that impact both residential and commercial customers. In fact, August 2022 energy bills saw the largest increase since 1981, a 15.8% gain from the same period a year ago. It is also likely that electricity prices will continue to increase in 2023.
Because of this pattern, many energy consumers are struggling to find strategies to save money. This issue has been particularly pronounced for businesses in the SMB sector, which have largely had to accept rising electricity costs as an ever-growing component of their operating expenses. This highlights the need for solutions that combat this trend and help keep energy costs under control.
Making sense of the costs on a typical utility bill
Before diving into the strategies that will help save money on electricity bills, it is important to first understand the different charges levied by utilities and how they are calculated.
1. Demand charge
This is a monthly fee that you pay based on your highest recorded energy demand during the billing period. Measured in kW, demand charges are used by utilities to determine the maximum amount of power they must be able to provide to you at any given time.
You can think of demand charges as monthly charges that you pay as part of the cost of maintaining the electric utility's infrastructure required to deliver electricity to your building. For many customers, the demand charge comprises 50% or more of the bill, demonstrating how this is a critical area to save money.
2. Energy charges
These are costs for the energy consumed during the billing period, also measured in kWh.
Many utilities offer time-of-use (TOU) rate plans where the cost of electricity varies throughout the day based on grid stress levels. Electricity is most expensive during peak pricing hours (which often occur between 4 PM and 9 PM) and represents the window when the grid is most stressed.
For customers who opt for a TOU rate structure, energy charges are separated by peak and off-peak hours. There are opportunities to save money by shifting energy use away from peak hours towards off-peak.
3 best practices to achieve electricity savings
1. Reduce demand charges
This can be achieved through efforts to decrease the maximum energy demand your business exhibits in a billing cycle.
Example: When you open your store for business in the morning, you can stagger the process of turning equipment on to avoid creating an energy peak caused by everything being turned on at once.
2. Optimize energy charges
This can be accomplished by minimizing the amount of energy consumed during peak pricing hours and shifting as much energy use as possible to off-peak hours.
Example: Your business could turn off non-essential electrical equipment from 4 PM - 9 PM throughout the week.
3. Cut back total usage
One of the simplest ways to save money is to reduce the overall amount of energy that your business consumes.
Example: Invest in energy-efficient appliances, such as lighting and cooking equipment, to scale back costs over the long term.
Here's where GlacierGrid comes in
GlacierGrid offers an exciting opportunity for businesses to receive a guaranteed 10% reduction in electricity bills through energy efficiency and optimization without any interruptions to their business operations.
Click here to book a demo and start enjoying savings today!