Summer Discount Plan (SDP) – Minimum Usage Eligibility Requirement

A. Establishing a minimum usage eligibility requirement helps improve the cost effectiveness of the program by identifying and removing customers who do not run their A/C. The Summer Discount Plan rewards customers who show A/C reduction when there is a need to conserve energy. These savings can be reallocated to other programs or services that may benefit SCE customers.

A. SCE evaluated hourly energy usage information for multiple SDP event periods across multiple months and years for program participants and identified those with usage consistently below 1.5 kWh in the hour before or after events were dispatched did not provide energy load reduction during events. Non-A/C operation is the primary reason customers will not exhibit load reduction during SDP event periods. Customers with usage of 1.5 kWh or greater did exhibit energy load reduction during events. SCE concluded that 1.5 kWh is an accurate threshold to determine A/C and Non-A/C users.

A. Air Conditioners are not individually metered and therefore, SCE must rely on whole house usage data to evaluate performance towards the minimum usage eligibility requirement. SCE considers this fact to have no negative impact on customers regarding evaluating performance towards the minimum usage eligibility requirement.

A. SCE did not deem it necessary to establish different minimum usage eligibility requirements per customer. The 1.5 kWh minimum usage eligibility requirement is an accurate metric for A/C usage and is conservatively set by only requiring customers to meet the threshold once per calendar year in the hour before or after, during SDP event periods. If customers do run the A/C in the hour before or hour after an event, meeting the 1.5 kWh usage threshold should not be an issue.

A. The analysis which established the minimum usage eligibility requirement of 1.5 kWh did not reveal a concern with NEM customers. Many customers meet the minimum usage eligibility requirement in the evening when solar generation is minimal and much of the usage demand is from SCE’s electric power grid.

A. SCE has a performance metric for A/C users (i.e., customers who meet the minimum usage eligibility requirement) but do not show energy load reduction during SDP event periods. SCE will perform mandatory site visits to inspect SDP devices and address any issues such as, inoperable, disconnected or missing devices. Customers who tamper (disconnect) with their SDP device are subject to removal from the program without warning.

A. Yes. My Account users can monitor their home’s performance towards meeting SCE’s Summer Discount Plan (SDP) Minimum Usage Eligibility Requirement. Download our step-by-step guide to learn how.

If you’re not a My Account user, click here to register.

A. Customer who do not meet the minimum usage eligibility requirement at least once per calendar year, in the hour before or hour after SDP events, will be removed from the program and will not be allowed to re-enroll for one-year.