APS Solar Price Plans

Here we will discuss the APS Price Plans offered for solar customers in the Phoenix, Arizona area.

• Demand charge: No
• Grid access charge: Yes
• Time of use plan: Yes
• How to save with this plan:
  • Set your pool pump, dishwasher, and any appliance that can be set on a timer to run after 8:00PM on weekdays.
  • Set your thermostat a few degrees higher in the summer and lower in the winter.
  • Use most of your energy during 10:00AM to 3:00PM when rates are lowest.
• Rates that apply when you use more energy than your solar system provides:

• This plan removes the grid access charge for solar customers and lowers the cost of energy, but makes up for that by adding a “demand charge” which charges customers extra if they use a large amount of energy all at once on weekdays between 3:00PM and 8:00PM. APS says this is “a charge for the single highest hour of energy used weekdays between 3 pm – 8 pm [on-peak time] during a billing cycle – averaged over an entire hour.” To simplify, you will get hit with a large charge if use all your major appliances at once during any given hour of on-peak time.
• For example, if all the adults and children are home and from 5:00PM to 6:00PM and the following appliances are running all at once, the family will see expensive demand charges from APS: three televisions, three video game consoles, water heater, pool pump, electric oven, electric stove, air conditioning, washer, and dryer. The way to avoid expensive demand charges on this plan are to “stagger” the use of major appliances.
• Demand charge: Yes
• Grid access charge: No
• Time of use plan: Yes
• How to save with this plan:
  • Set appliances to run after 8:00PM on weekdays.
  • Due to the demand charge, customers should stagger their use of major appliances (such as the oven, dishwasher, dryer, pool pump, and hot water heater) instead of using them all at once. For example, in the summer you will have your air conditioner running between 3:00PM to 8:00PM. To prevent too much energy use all at once, use your oven at 4:00PM, then run your dishwasher at 5:00PM, then take showers at 6:00PM, then run the dryer at 7:00PM, and set the pool pump to start at 8:00PM, and so on. Keep in mind, it will save you the most amount of money to run as many major appliances as possible outside of the weekday hours of 3:00PM to 8:00PM.
  • Set your thermostat a few degrees higher in the summer and lower in the winter.
• Rates that apply when you use more energy than your solar system provides:

• This plan is like the Saver Choice Plus in that it is a time of use plan with a demand charge. The difference is that this plan has much higher demand charges and lower energy charges. Customers on this plan would need to religiously stagger their major appliance use or completely refrain from using their major appliances during on-peak times to avoid massive demand charges. Those who can consistently avoid using energy during on-peak times will save the most amount of money and build up the most energy credits on this plan.
• Demand charge: Yes
• Grid access charge: No
• Time of use plan: Yes
• How to save with this plan:
  • Set appliances to run after 8:00PM on weekdays.
  • Stagger your use of, or completely refrain from, using major appliances during on-peak times.
  • Adjust your thermostat to use less energy.
• Rates that apply when you use more energy than your solar system provides: