DENVER – Xcel Energy customers in Colorado with smart meters will start paying more for electricity during certain hours this summer starting Monday, a measure company officials said is aimed at saving “everybody money.”
The "time of use" pricing rate, which went into effect June 1, means Xcel customers will pay nearly three times the price per kilowatt hour (kWh) if using energy during peak time hours, from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays.
Customers using electricity within that timeframe will see their energy bill go up from $0.12/kWh to $0.32/kWh – nearly three times more than if using electricity during “off-peak” hours. Customers using electricity during "mid-peak" hours, between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m., will be charged $0.22/kWh.
“If you think about it, we’re trying to curtail the amount of energy that is consumed at the largest part of the day,” Andrew Holder, a spokesperson for Xcel Energy, told Denver7 recently. “And if we reduce that energy – that peak demand – then we don't need to install as many electric generators or power stations or wind farms, so it saves everybody money in the long run.”
Customers using electricity between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. on weekends and holidays will be billed at the off-peak rate, an Xcel spokesperson said in an email.
Holder told Denver7 the time of use rate for customers with smart meters, “allows our electric customers to have the freedom of choice to ensure that they can meet their energy usage and use their energy as efficiently and as effective as possible,” adding that Xcel Energy customers will be able to better understand their energy usage and “how their energy consumptive habits can change and how there’s a financial incentive if they do move it off-peak hours.”
Some appliances and equipment that use a lot of energy include EV chargers, dishwashers, washers/dryers, central air and window unit air conditioners, Xcel said.
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Monday will see a high of nearly 90 degrees in Denver area, with temps staying warmer than usual for this time of year, according to Denver7’s Katie LaSalle, who said hotter and mainly dry conditions are expected through the middle and end of the week, with highs climbing to the upper 80s and low 90s by Friday.
Currently, 1.2 of Xcel Energy’s 1.6 million customers have smart meters, Holder told Denver7. Anyone wondering whether they have a smart meter installed should go to the Xcel Energy website and check their billing statement.
