https://thedemandcharge.comIndependent analysis of commercial and industrial electricity bills: demand charges, rate schedules, power factor penalties and the arithmetic of reducing peak demand.en-USWed, 02 Sep 2026 12:00:00 +0000https://thedemandcharge.com/articles/why-utilities-charge-for-demandhttps://thedemandcharge.com/articles/why-utilities-charge-for-demandWed, 02 Sep 2026 12:00:00 +0000The cost causation argument behind demand charges, what it explains well, and the places where it is contested in rate cases. Worth understanding before you argue about it.https://thedemandcharge.com/articles/riders-surcharges-explainedhttps://thedemandcharge.com/articles/riders-surcharges-explainedWed, 02 Sep 2026 12:00:00 +0000Fuel adjustments, transmission recovery, efficiency program funding and public benefit charges sit on top of the base rate. What they attach to decides what your savings project is worth.https://thedemandcharge.com/articles/real-time-pricing-explainedhttps://thedemandcharge.com/articles/real-time-pricing-explainedWed, 02 Sep 2026 12:00:00 +0000Hourly wholesale-linked prices reward a site that can move load and punish one that cannot. The annual average is not the number that decides it.https://thedemandcharge.com/articles/ratchet-clause-explainedhttps://thedemandcharge.com/articles/ratchet-clause-explainedWed, 02 Sep 2026 12:00:00 +0000A ratchet sets a floor under billing demand based on an earlier peak. It multiplies the cost of a single bad interval by a factor most business cases leave out entirely.https://thedemandcharge.com/articles/pjm-capacity-tag-explainedhttps://thedemandcharge.com/articles/pjm-capacity-tag-explainedWed, 02 Sep 2026 12:00:00 +0000In PJM your capacity obligation is derived from your load during a handful of summer peak hours, and it prices a charge that follows you through the next delivery year.https://thedemandcharge.com/articles/meter-multiplier-ct-ratiohttps://thedemandcharge.com/articles/meter-multiplier-ct-ratioWed, 02 Sep 2026 12:00:00 +0000On instrument-metered services the register reading is multiplied before it reaches the bill. When that multiplier is wrong, every determinant is wrong by the same factor.https://thedemandcharge.com/articles/measures-that-dont-cut-demandhttps://thedemandcharge.com/articles/measures-that-dont-cut-demandWed, 02 Sep 2026 12:00:00 +0000Every one of these saves real energy. None of them reliably reduces the highest fifteen-minute interval, and projects sold on the wrong line lose credibility for the next one.https://thedemandcharge.com/articles/kw-vs-kwh-differencehttps://thedemandcharge.com/articles/kw-vs-kwh-differenceWed, 02 Sep 2026 12:00:00 +0000Kilowatts are a rate, kilowatt-hours are a quantity, and your utility bills for both separately. Getting the distinction wrong is how savings projections end up wrong.https://thedemandcharge.com/articles/interval-data-how-to-get-ithttps://thedemandcharge.com/articles/interval-data-how-to-get-itWed, 02 Sep 2026 12:00:00 +0000A monthly bill tells you a peak happened. Fifteen-minute interval data tells you when, how often and what caused it — and it is usually available for free.https://thedemandcharge.com/articles/how-to-reduce-peak-demand-chargeshttps://thedemandcharge.com/articles/how-to-reduce-peak-demand-chargesWed, 02 Sep 2026 12:00:00 +0000A ladder of measures from free to capital-intensive, with the diagnostic that tells you which rung your site is actually on and the arithmetic for deciding between them.https://thedemandcharge.com/articles/facility-vs-on-peak-demandhttps://thedemandcharge.com/articles/facility-vs-on-peak-demandWed, 02 Sep 2026 12:00:00 +0000Three terms that sound interchangeable and are not. A tariff can bill two of them at once, which is how a successful load shift produces half the expected saving.https://thedemandcharge.com/articles/estimated-reads-and-rebillshttps://thedemandcharge.com/articles/estimated-reads-and-rebillsWed, 02 Sep 2026 12:00:00 +0000An estimated bill is a placeholder that gets corrected later. On a demand tariff the correction is not always straightforward, and it is worth knowing how yours is calculated.https://thedemandcharge.com/articles/demand-vs-energy-heavy-tariffshttps://thedemandcharge.com/articles/demand-vs-energy-heavy-tariffsWed, 02 Sep 2026 12:00:00 +0000Two schedules can collect the same revenue from a utility's customers and treat your particular load very differently. One number tells you which side you are on.https://thedemandcharge.com/articles/demand-charges-explainedhttps://thedemandcharge.com/articles/demand-charges-explainedWed, 02 Sep 2026 12:00:00 +0000What a demand charge measures, why utilities levy it, how the fifteen-minute interval works, and why two plants with identical consumption can receive very different bills.https://thedemandcharge.com/articles/battery-peak-shaving-sizinghttps://thedemandcharge.com/articles/battery-peak-shaving-sizingWed, 02 Sep 2026 12:00:00 +0000Power rating and energy capacity are two separate specifications. A battery correct on one and wrong on the other fails to shave the peak while costing the full price.https://thedemandcharge.com/articles/power-factor-penalties-explainedhttps://thedemandcharge.com/articles/power-factor-penalties-explainedSun, 23 Aug 2026 12:00:00 +0000Reactive power does no useful work and still has to be carried by the wires. Three different tariff mechanisms bill you for it, and they are not equivalent.https://thedemandcharge.com/articles/itc-and-depreciation-energy-equipmenthttps://thedemandcharge.com/articles/itc-and-depreciation-energy-equipmentSun, 23 Aug 2026 12:00:00 +0000Tax treatment can move the after-tax cost of an energy asset substantially. What the rules are is a question for the IRS and your adviser — what they change in the model is a question you can answer.https://thedemandcharge.com/articles/battery-tco-modelhttps://thedemandcharge.com/articles/battery-tco-modelSun, 23 Aug 2026 12:00:00 +0000Installed cost is the visible number and rarely the decisive one. Degradation, augmentation, availability and end-of-life determine whether a fifteen-year case actually holds.https://thedemandcharge.com/articles/measurement-and-verificationhttps://thedemandcharge.com/articles/measurement-and-verificationSat, 22 Aug 2026 12:00:00 +0000A saving nobody can demonstrate is, for capital allocation purposes, a saving that did not happen. Deciding how it will be proved belongs before the equipment is installed.https://thedemandcharge.com/articles/voltage-level-discounts-primary-meteringhttps://thedemandcharge.com/articles/voltage-level-discounts-primary-meteringFri, 21 Aug 2026 12:00:00 +0000Taking service at a higher voltage and owning your own transformer moves cost from the utility to you, and tariffs pay for that with a discount. Whether it is worth it is arithmetic.