More headlines about utility demand-charge proposals are surfacing across the U.S. In some territories, these proposals are becoming a reality, with devestating consequences for solar and distributed generation (DG) markets.
But are residential demand charges actually a growing trend? Consider the numbers:
- 4 rural electric cooperatives in the United States are known to have established mandatory demand charges for residential customers (out of ~850 cooperatives, amounting to less than 1 percent).
- 1 municipal electric utility (out of more than 2,000, or less than 0.05 percent of the total) is known to have established mandatory demand charges for residential customers.
- 0 investor-owned utilities have established mandatory demand charges for residential customers. (Twenty-eight investor-owned utilities offer at least one tariff with voluntary demand charges for residential customers.)
- 4 utilities – Lakeland Electric (Florida), Salt River Project (Arizona), Cobb County EMC (Georgia) and Black Hills Power (Wyoming) -- require DG customers to take service under a tariff that includes residential demand charges. (Note: Except for Cobb County EMC, all of these rates only apply to “new” DG customers. Effective dates and grandfathering periods vary by utility.)
Source: EQ Research
Note: Map presents demand charges introduced in PUC proceedings, does not include charges introduced via legislation.
And what about proposed residential demand charges? In the last year or so, 19 IOUs have proposed establishing residential demand charges in a state PUC proceeding. Of those 19 proposals:
- 9 were withdrawn or rejected
- 9 are still pending
- 1 has been implemented by Black Hills Power in Wyoming. The rate became effective October 1, 2014 and applies to customers who install DG after that date. Existing customers may remain on other available rate schedules for up to 10 years.
Source: EQ Research
Note: Map presents demand charges introduced in PUC proceedings, does not include charges introduced via legislation.
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In partnership with EQ Research, GTM Squared brings you a series of visualizations that map, graph and chart issues important to the clean energy industry across the U.S. These visualizations will be updated quarterly and serve as an up-to-date resource for Squared members.
