SCE’s New “Time of Use” Electric Billing

Southern California Edison serves millions of Californians with their electricity. And lately they’ve
been serving them notice, too – there will be a change in their electric bill. SCE is gradually moving
their entire customer base of millions of Southern California residents onto a new “Time of Use” billing
structure.

What does this mean for SoCal homeowners?
In short: higher electric bills.

Tiered vs. Time of Use – What Do They Mean?

What, exactly, has changed?

Southern California Edison has offered some information here on their website.

What they won’t say, however, is how much more you’ll be paying.

One thing is important to know: you’ll still be able to use electricity in your home as you always
have. SCE won’t limit how much you can use.

The difference that has everyone so concerned is how they’ll be charging you for each kilowatt-hour
(which is the fancy term for how much electricity you use in a given time frame).

The old tiered system gave different households certain allotments of kilowatt-hours before pricing
changed. You paid the lowest rate until you used up that Tier 1 allotment. If, in a month, you used more
than that, you’d then start paying the Tier 2 rate, which was more expensive. If you used a very high
amount of electricity in a month, you’d get bumped up to Tier 3 (“very high use”) pricing.

It’s simple: the more you use, the more you pay.