Time-Of-Use (TOU) Rate Plans
If you are able to manage your energy habits, one of our Time-Of-Use plans may be the best fit for your home. Rates on a TOU plan are based on the time of day and the season.
TOU plans can help you manage your energy costs. By taking advantage of lower rates during off-peak and super off-peak periods, you can avoid higher weekday rates when energy resources are in demand.
- Electricity prices are typically lower early in the day, overnight, and on the weekends
- Bills may be higher during the summer but overall annual energy costs can be lower
- The new TOU 4-9PM and 5-8PM plans offer low prices while the sun is shining and solar power is contributing to the power grid
How Can TOU Help You Save?
Time-Of-Use plans are designed so you have options to reduce your overall costs. Check out the video to discover how TOU rate plans work.
Want to maximize your savings? Explore tips to lower your bill with a TOU plan here:
Compare Our TOU Rate Plans
Select the tabs to compare our TOU rate plans. Rates effective as of 10/01/24.
Don’t see your current rate? You may be enrolled in a discontinued rate plan.
Better for customers who stay up late. May benefit smaller households in coastal areas with moderately sized homes or condos.
Daily Basic Charge: $0.03 per day
Minimum Daily Charge: $0.35 per day
Baseline Credit: $0.09 per kWh up to your monthly baseline allocation
For example, if your monthly allocation is 200 kWh, you’d see a $18 credit on your bill.
*Additional baseline allocation applies for Heat Pump Water Heater customers on this rate.
The rates shown reflect pricing for customers receiving both delivery and generation services from SCE. Your rates may differ if you receive your generation services from a provider other than SCE. For generation costs, please contact your Community Choice Aggregation Service Provider or Direct Access Electricity Service Provider for more details.
Better for customers who end the night early. May benefit those who are home during the day and tend to live in smaller rented dwellings.
Daily Basic Charge: $0.03 per day
Minimum Daily Charge: $0.35 per day
Baseline Credit: $0.09 per kWh up to your monthly baseline allocation
For example, if your monthly allocation is 200 kWh, you’d see a $18 credit on your bill.
*Additional baseline allocation applies for Heat Pump Water Heater customers with this rate.
The rates shown reflect pricing for customers who receive both delivery and generation services from SCE. Your rates may differ if you receive your generation services from a provider other than SCE. For generation costs, please contact your Community Choice Aggregation Service Provider or Direct Access Electric Service Provider for more details.
A rate for an electric vehicle or plug-in hybrid owners and lessees, customers with a residential battery, or customers with an electric heat pump system for water or space heating. This rate has a fixed daily basic charge which allows for lower Super Off-Peak and Off-Peak rates. This is ideal for customers who use clean energy technologies and can shift that usage to lower-cost times.
Customers must confirm ownership (or lease) of one or more of these clean energy technologies when they enroll, except for those currently enrolled in TOU-D-A, TOU-D-B, or TOU-D-T.
Highest rates: 4 p.m. - 9 p.m.
Daily Basic Charge: $0.55
Minimum Daily Charge: None
Baseline Credit: None
The rates shown reflect pricing for customers who receive both delivery and generation services from SCE. Your rates may differ if you receive your generation services from a provider other than SCE. For generation costs, please contact your Community Choice Aggregation Service Provider or Direct Access Electric Service Provider for more details.
Ready to Change Your Rate?
You can change your plan online by using the Rate Plan Comparison Tool.
Tap into Cleaner Energy with TOU
Cleaner energy sources like wind and solar help lower the environmental impact of the energy grid. The sun shines while most of us are at work and the wind blows while we’re asleep. With a TOU plan, you can potentially save energy and lower electricity bills by using renewable energy when it’s naturally available.
Along with using cleaner energy, find out how you can help the environment and potentially lower electricity bills by being more energy efficient.
Get Help With Your Bills
We understand that paying bills can be a challenge, and we want to help. Learn more about our discount programs, get more time by making a payment arrangement, or apply for one-time assistance through our Energy Assistance Fund.
Residential Time-Of-Use FAQ
If you switch to a Time-of-Use rate, you will not be able to make another switch for a full 12 months. Keep in mind that Solar Billing Plan customers are required to be on the TOU-D-PRIME rate and NEM 2.0 customers are required to be on a Time-of-Use rate.
The rate you are currently on may now be a discontinued TOU rate plan, including TOU-D-A, TOU-D-B, and TOU-D-T. Discontinued TOU rate plans are no longer open to customer enrollment. If you’re enrolled in one of these rates, you can continue to stay on it for now. If you switch to a different rate plan, however, you cannot re-enroll in your previous plan.
If you can shift some of your electricity use to take advantage of the lower priced (off-peak) time periods, you have the ability to lower your overall electricity costs. Running your dishwasher during Off-Peak periods instead of during On-Peak periods is an example of shifting in usage to lower your electricity costs. Use our Appliance Energy Use Cost Estimator to see how much you can save by shifting energy use to off-peak hours.
With TOU rate plans, rate charges change between the longer winter period (October-May) and shorter summer period (June-September). As a result of these seasonal pricing differences, it is likely that on a TOU rate plan, your winter bills will be lower than you are used to, while your summer bills will be higher. Be sure to pay attention to the seasonal and monthly breakout of your projected costs in the Rate Plan Comparison Tool.
Each customer has two baseline allocations, one for summer and one for winter usage. Baseline allocation is the same as the baseline allowance found on the standard residential rate plan. Your allowance can be found by reviewing the “details of your new charges” section of the bill statement. Under “additional information” you will see your summer baseline allowance, your winter baseline allowance, or both, depending on which month’s bill you review. For more information about baseline, view the “about baseline” section of the standard domestic rate plan page here.
TOU-D-4-9PM, TOU-D-5-8PM, and TOU-D-PRIME—as well as discontinued TOU rate plans TOU-D-A and TOU-D-T—are also subject to a minimum bill charge averaging out to about $10 a month. This means that if the delivery portion of your bill does not meet the minimum bill amount of 32¢ per day, a charge will be added to your bill for the difference to reach approximately $10. The delivery charges and the daily basic charge of 3¢ per day apply towards your minimum bill charge.
Medical Baseline customers have an additional 16.5 kWh allocated to their baseline usage on a daily basis, in addition to their applicable seasonal baseline for the operation of life-support devices and other qualifying equipment.
A Heat pump water heater (HPWH) can be three times more efficient than a conventional water heater. It works similarly to a refrigerator, except in reverse. While a refrigerator removes a heat pump, a water heater takes the heat from the surrounding air, and an HPWH takes the heat from the surrounding air and transfers it to water in an enclosed tank. Effective October 1, 2022, customers who own a Heat Pump Water Heater are also eligible for an additional baseline allocation if they are on TOU-D-4-9PM or TOU-D-5-8PM. Customers receiving a basic baseline allowance will receive an incremental allowance of 1.9 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per day in the Summer and 2.6 kWh per day in the Winter, and customers receiving an All-Electric baseline allowance will receive with an incremental allowance. This additional allocation provides a credit to help offset the charges you pay for the HPWH electricity usage. If you are already enrolled on an eligible TOU rate and have recently installed HPWH, please call us at 1-866-743-1645 to get this allocation enabled.
Several new incentives in California make heat pump water heaters more affordable than ever. To find incentives available in your area, visit The Switch Is On website.
Baseline Allocation
An amount of electricity (measured in kilowatt hours) that is provided to households at a lower rate than electricity used above this threshold.
Baseline allocations are determined by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) based on the number of days in the billing period, the season, the climate, and whether your primary source of heat is electric.
Baseline Allocation (Daily/Monthly)
Since billing periods can have different numbers of days, the baseline allocation is defined initially as a daily allocation. This is then calculated into an allocation for the entire billing period, which is sometimes called a “Monthly Baseline Allocation” for convenience.
Baseline Credit
A discount that reduces total electricity charges. A baseline credit is calculated per kilowatt hour (kWh) used and is capped by the monthly baseline allocation.
Daily Basic Charge
A flat, daily charge that is billed on a monthly basis, regardless of customer use or activity.
Kilowatt Hour (kWh)
A unit of measurement for electrical energy consumption over time that we use to compute billing. One kilowatt hour is equivalent to using 1,000 watts for 1 hour.
Minimum Daily Charge
A flat, daily charge that is applied if a customer’s total delivery charges fall below a minimum in a billing period (about $10 for a typical residential user). This charge supports the maintenance and operation of providing electricity.
Tier
An amount of energy allocated to a customer in a billing period at a specific price. If a customer uses more energy than what is allocated, they are charged at a higher rate on the next tier.