Frequently Asked Questions

A. No, only the A/C compressor will be shut off. The rest of your home will still have electricity and your indoor fan will still operate.

A. Yes, up to 6 hours a day.

A. Beginning in 2017, all customers enrolled on SDP must meet a minimum usage requirement to remain eligible for the program. Your account must register the use of 1.5 kWh, one hour before or after, in at least one SDP event per calendar year. Failing to meet this minimum usage requirement is indicative of not operating the A/C before and after SDP event periods. Customers who do not meet this minimum usage requirement will be removed from the program and will not be allowed to re-enroll for one-year.

A. Yes, however, you are required to stay on the plan for at least a year from the date of activation of your cycling device. If you or someone in your household develop a medical condition that disqualifies you from participating in the program prior to meeting the 12 months requirement, please call us at 1-800-497-2813. You will be given a form to be signed by a medical provider and returned to SCE.

A. Your bill credits are not determined by how much you use your A/C. Instead, they are based on the calculated tonnage of your A/C and the option you select. Your credits cannot exceed the cost of distribution and generation charges on your bill.

A. For your safety, in order to participate in an override option, all A/C units enrolled in the Summer Discount Plan must be installed on the ground..

A. Take a look at the cycling device installed on or near your A/C unit. When your A/C has been shut off, you'll see a green LED light flashing. If you also see a yellow LED light, you have remaining overrides to use. Simply press the button on the upper right-hand corner of the device and your A/C compressor will turn back on within 10 minutes. Once you override an event, you will not have any more energy events for the remainder of the day.

A. Confirm that no energy events are in progress (there should not be a green or yellow LED light flashing). If it is not an energy event day, press the “override” button on your cycling device and hold it for approximately 10 seconds. When you release, the red LED light will flash. Count the number of times it flashes; that’s how many overrides you have left.

A. Energy events can occur at any time, year-round, but we anticipate that most will occur during the summer, when A/C usage is highest. We apply credits between June 1 and October 1 to help lower your bill during this time.

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.