Reduce on-peak energy usage

As temperatures rise, it’s time for SRP Time-of-Use Price Plan^™(TOU) and SRP EZ-3 Price Plan^™(EZ-3) customers to think about ways to shift their home’s energy use to avoid their price plan’s on-peak hours. Using energy during off-peak hours not only saves our customers money on their bills, but it also helps ensure our power grid can meet the high-demand summer months.

To prepare your family to save on energy bills, it’s important to practice good energy habits.

What does it mean to shift energy use? 

Everything plugged into an outlet in your home uses electricity. During certain hours of the weekday, the TOU and EZ-3 price plans have higher-cost hours, known as on-peak hours.

For EZ-3 that’s 3–6 p.m. or 4–7 p.m., and TOU just switched from 2–8 p.m. to 5–9 a.m. and 5–9 p.m. During these hours, activities requiring large amounts of energy could result in higher energy costs.

If you want to try a different price plan, you have options. Customers on our time-of-day price plans (TOU and EZ-3) save on average of 4% a year on their electric bill by reducing the amount of energy they are using during on-peak hours.

High-cost activities and appliances to avoid and help reduce energy during on-peak hours

What activities and appliances use the most energy in our homes? It’s a great question, the answer to which can help you confidently save on a price plan.

Every home has a few major energy-using appliances whose use should be significantly reduced or avoided during the higher-cost on-peak hours. Here are some money-saving shifts and changes we recommend making.

1. Shift heating and cooling

Precool your home during lower-cost off-peak hours and then bump the thermostat up several degrees past your preferred temperature once on-peak hours begin. Another thing to keep in mind is that if you have a programmable learning thermostat, make sure you schedule it to not run during your plan’s on-peak time.

2. Avoid running the pool pump

You may not think about it daily, but if you have a pool, the pump requires a lot of electricity (with newer variable-speed pumps being more efficient). Running your pump during off-peak hours can help make your savings as big as possible. 

3. Try not to use hot water

Behind air-conditioning units and pool pumps, the water heater is another big energy user. Need to do laundry or hop in the shower? Try to wait to use water that needs to be heated until off-peak hours kick in so that you don’t pay more to heat your water during on-peak hours.

4. Switch to LED lightbulbs

While LED lightbulbs use less energy and last longer, a simple switch to LEDs can reduce cooling costs because less efficient incandescent bulbs waste most of their energy as heat.

5. Consider another form of cooking

Cooking with an oven not only uses power, but it can add heat to your kitchen during already warm days. When planning dinner, think about using the slow cooker, instant pot or an outdoor grill instead.

Want to get the family involved? Make a game out of saving energy – give the kids kudos for being energy-conscious. Things like turning off the lights and TVs when not in use can earn a reward. You could also add up your savings and treat the whole family to a pizza party.

Reduce energy and monitor your account and savings

Once you decide what price plan is best for you, monitor your energy savings through SRP My Account^™ or by downloading the SRP Power app.