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-USMon, 24 Aug 2026 12:00:00 +0000https://thedemandcharge.com/articles/demand-vs-energy-heavy-tariffshttps://thedemandcharge.com/articles/demand-vs-energy-heavy-tariffsMon, 24 Aug 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/battery-peak-shaving-sizinghttps://thedemandcharge.com/articles/battery-peak-shaving-sizingMon, 24 Aug 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/kw-vs-kwh-differencehttps://thedemandcharge.com/articles/kw-vs-kwh-differenceSat, 22 Aug 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-itSat, 22 Aug 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/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.https://thedemandcharge.com/articles/power-factor-correction-sizinghttps://thedemandcharge.com/articles/power-factor-correction-sizingFri, 21 Aug 2026 12:00:00 +0000The calculation is short and the target is not maximum correction. Sizing to land inside a band, with the harmonic environment checked first, is what separates a working installation from a failure.https://thedemandcharge.com/articles/4cp-transmission-charges-ercothttps://thedemandcharge.com/articles/4cp-transmission-charges-ercotFri, 21 Aug 2026 12:00:00 +0000Four fifteen-minute intervals across one summer set a Texas facility's transmission charge for the whole following year. Here is the mechanism and what managing it involves.https://thedemandcharge.com/articles/vfd-power-factorhttps://thedemandcharge.com/articles/vfd-power-factorThu, 20 Aug 2026 12:00:00 +0000Drives are frequently sold as improving power factor, and in one sense they do. The sense that matters for your bill depends on which power factor your meter measures.https://thedemandcharge.com/articles/tariff-book-how-to-readhttps://thedemandcharge.com/articles/tariff-book-how-to-readThu, 20 Aug 2026 12:00:00 +0000The tariff is the contract, it is public, and almost nobody opens it. A method for extracting the six things that actually determine what you pay.https://thedemandcharge.com/articles/avoided-cost-per-kwhttps://thedemandcharge.com/articles/avoided-cost-per-kwThu, 20 Aug 2026 12:00:00 +0000The base demand rate is not the answer. Riders, taxes, the ratchet and seasonality all change the figure, usually upward, and the correct number decides every project after it.https://thedemandcharge.com/articles/time-of-use-rates-commercialhttps://thedemandcharge.com/articles/time-of-use-rates-commercialWed, 19 Aug 2026 12:00:00 +0000The same kilowatt-hour costs different amounts depending on when it arrives. Whether that helps or hurts depends entirely on how much timing latitude your operation really has.https://thedemandcharge.com/articles/measures-that-dont-cut-demandhttps://thedemandcharge.com/articles/measures-that-dont-cut-demandWed, 19 Aug 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/rate-switching-ruleshttps://thedemandcharge.com/articles/rate-switching-rulesTue, 18 Aug 2026 12:00:00 +0000The modeling says switch. The tariff says how, when, and for how long you are committed. Reading the second document after the first is how a good analysis becomes a bad year.https://thedemandcharge.com/articles/how-to-read-an-industrial-electricity-billhttps://thedemandcharge.com/articles/how-to-read-an-industrial-electricity-billTue, 18 Aug 2026 12:00:00 +0000An industrial statement is four different charges stacked together, each priced on a different determinant. Here is what every line means and which ones respond to timing rather than volume.https://thedemandcharge.com/articles/demand-response-programshttps://thedemandcharge.com/articles/demand-response-programsTue, 18 Aug 2026 12:00:00 +0000You are not selling electricity. You are selling a commitment to reduce load on request, and the penalty structure for failing to deliver is the part worth reading twice.https://thedemandcharge.com/articles/real-time-pricing-explainedhttps://thedemandcharge.com/articles/real-time-pricing-explainedMon, 17 Aug 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.