Information About Your Rate Plan
Our older rate plans are being discontinued. Customers will be switched to their designated TOU rate plan beginning in late 2021.
Why am I being switched to another rate plan?
In 2018, SCE started offering rates with Time-of-Use (TOU) peak periods to better align with California’s adoption of cleaner resources and the cost to deliver power throughout the day. TOU peak periods are now later in the day when less renewable resources are available, but demand for energy is still high. As part of a statewide initiative to use more clean renewable power—like solar and wind—and simplify rates, customers will be switched to their lowest cost TOU rate plan based on their historical usage. This will begin in late 2021, although customers with an electric vehicle charging station with a dedicated meter can remain on their rate for now. Some solar customers will be allowed to remain on their discontinued rate until 2024, depending on the Permission to Operate (PTO) date or when they last took service on the rate. For more details on the timeframe when customers will be migrating, please see the FAQs below.
What to Expect
You will receive a letter approximately 60 days before your transition period with a personalized comparison between your discontinued rate plan and other available rate plan options. Some solar customers will also receive a notification on their bill 90 days before the transition period.
You Have Choices
Benefits of TOU
Your service account will automatically be switched to your lowest cost TOU rate plan based on your historical usage. You may switch rate plans twice in the 12-month period following the transition.
If you elect a different rate before your transition, you will be locked in that rate for 12 months.
- Rate changes made after the “reply by” date on your letter may not be processed.
To learn more about rates and view your latest cost comparison, or switch to another rate, you may be eligible to use our Rate Plan Comparison Tool. Please visit sce.com/rateplantool to view your options.
Review your rate options available in the 60-day letter to determine what is the best rate
plan for you.
With our available TOU rate plans, you are in control! Take advantage of lower electricity prices in the morning, afternoon, and late at night.
The more you can shift your energy usage to
when rates are lower, the more you'll save.
Understanding Your Rate Plan Options
There are three different TOU Rate Plans, and you’ll be switched to the lowest cost TOU plan based on your historical usage. However, we understand that many people have had to make changes to their lifestyle recently, so you may want to compare our recommended rate plan with your other rate plan options.
TOU 4-9 P.M.
This rate plan benefits households who can reduce their energy usage between 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. For example, if you end the night early, take advantage of lower rates earlier in the day.
TOU 5-8 P.M.
This rate plan benefits households who can lower their energy usage between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. For example, if you stay up late, try using major appliances like your dishwasher after 8 p.m.
TOU-D-PRIME
TOU-D-PRIME is for households with electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles, a residential battery, or an electric heat pump system for water or space heating. However, customers transitioning from discontinued rate plans will not be required to attest qualifying equipment when requesting a rate change to TOU PRIME. Lastly, any household who has or installs a second meter at their location for their EV charging needs, will qualify for a monthly “EV Meter Credit” on their bill. Credit will begin in October 2022.
Other Rate Plan Option
Domestic Tiered
This rate plan is available for residential solar customers who are considered Net Energy Metering (NEM) 1.0 customers and residential customers not on Net Energy Metering (non-NEM). It is a more traditional billing plan where the best way to keep energy costs low is to limit your total energy consumption. Although customers are not being automatically transitioned to this rate, it may be a better option for some customers. NEM 2.0 customers are not eligible for the Domestic Tiered rate.
Compare your TOU rate plan options
The Rate Plan Comparison Tool (RPCT) can give you a personalized comparison between your current plan and other plan options. You may be eligible to use this tool to find out if you could save on other rate plans, get estimates based on your usage, and switch rate plans now.
Get Financial Help with Your Bill
If you are currently receiving assistance through our CARE or FERA programs, your discount will continue with a different TOU rate plan. If you aren’t enrolled in one of our programs yet, find out how we can help you with lowering your monthly bill.
Tips for Saving More with TOU
The key to saving with a TOU plan is to take advantage of the times when rates are lower. These tips can give you some ideas on how you can save and help the environment in the process.
Discontinued Rate Plans
Sometimes, our rate plan offerings must change in order to keep up with evolving energy demands. This may mean that your current rate plan has become closed to customer enrollment. If your eligibility for a discontinued rate plan has expired, you can no longer stay on it. If you are on a discontinued rate plan with a legacy period that has not ended, you can continue to stay on it for now. If you switch to another rate plan, you won’t be able to re-enroll in a discontinued rate plan.
TOU-D-A
This discontinued rate plan featured rates that are offset by a monthly Baseline Credit. If enrolled in this rate plan, you are eligible for TOU-D-Prime, with no requirement to have eligible technology.
TOU-D-B
This discontinued rate plan featured lower peak rates, but a higher daily basic charge compared to TOU-D-A and no baseline credit. If enrolled in this rate plan, you are eligible for TOU-D-Prime, with no requirement to have eligible technology.
TOU-D-T
This discontinued rate plan combines Time-Of-Use and Tiered Rate pricing. Unlike other TOU plans, TOU-D-T featured two tiers of pricing determined by your baseline allocation. If enrolled in this rate plan, you are eligible for TOU-D-Prime, with no requirement to have eligible technology.
TOU-EV-1
This discontinued rate is for customers who have electric vehicle charging stations with a dedicated meter.
Discontinued High Usage Charges
Effective October 1, 2024, customers on the Domestic tiered rate plan will only have two usage tiers (1 and 2). The High Usage Charge (HUC) tier will no longer be applicable.
Discontinued Rate Plans FAQ
Yes, we have closed these discontinued rate plans to new enrollment and plan to move customers to their designated TOU rate plan beginning in late 2021. Some customers with legacy solar generating facilities may be allowed to stay on until 2024 at the latest, depending on the Permission to Operate (PTO) date or when they last took service on the rate.
Yes, including the existing TOU-EV-1 customers who will be migrating to the TOU-D-PRIME rate starting in October 2022. These customers will be notified prior to their migration, and they are being moved to an applicable rate based on their current energy and technology needs.
To help ease the transition to the new TOU periods, your service account was not initially affected by this change. Instead, your account continued to be served on the then-existing rate plan. Some solar customers continued to be served on the then-existing rate plan for the duration of a five-year eligibility period starting from the Permission to Operate (PTO) date of your solar system or when you last took the discontinued rate plan. This five-year-period has expired or will expire this year for your service account.
- If you are a non-NEM customer (do not have solar power), you will transition to your new TOU rate in Q4 2021.
- If you are a NEM 1.0 customer, you will transition to your new TOU rate five years from your Permission to Operate (PTO) date, beginning in fall 2021 and not to exceed 2022. This applies to residential and small business customers who received permission to operate before July 1, 2017 and submitted their application for interconnection on or before January 31, 2017. If you are an NEM 1.0 customer, you will still be moved to a TOU rate plan unless you want to choose to switch to another rate plan.
- If you are a NEM 2.0 customer, you will transition to your new TOU rate five years from when you last took the discontinued TOU rate, beginning in fall 2021 and not to exceed 2024. NEM 2.0 applies to residential and small business customers who received permission to operate on or after July 1, 2017.
- TOU-EV-1 customers will begin migrating to their new rate, TOU-D-PRIME starting in October 2022. These customers will transition to their new rate starting with their October 2022 billing cycle.
Yes, you can switch from your discontinued rate plan to an available rate plan. Once you switch from a discontinued rate plan, however, you can’t switch back. For example, if you’re currently enrolled in TOU-D-A, you can switch to TOU-D-4-9PM. Once on TOU-D-4-9PM, you can’t switch back to TOU-D-A.
No, you cannot switch to another discontinued rate plan, as these rate plans are closed to customer enrollment.
If you take no action, you will be automatically moved to an available Time-Of-Use plan, and you will see it reflected on an upcoming bill.
If you are on a CARE or FERA program, your discount will not be affected by switching to another rate plan.
SCE will be placing customers on the lowest cost available TOU option based on their historical usage over the last year. There may be other rates, such as the Domestic Tiered rate, that would provide even more savings. To determine which rate is best for you, refer to your letter or visit sce.com/rateplantool.
If your electric generation provider is a Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) or Direct Access (DA), your rate analysis is a proxy rate analysis based on the rates you would pay if you were receiving both delivery and generation services from SCE for your current rate and alternate rate options. Your actual costs may differ from what is shown. For generation costs, please contact your CCA Service Provider or DA Electric Service Provider
You can find more information about CCAs on our CCA FAQ Page
You can find more information about DAs on our DA FAQ Page
Did you know that owning battery storage can help you take advantage of lower prices in the day? You can charge your battery in the afternoon when prices are lower, and then dispatch your battery during the peak times (4-9 p.m. or 5-8 p.m.) to avoid pulling energy off the grid when prices are higher. You can still take advantage of incentives that help lower your bill when you store your solar energy and use it during peak hours. You could also set your battery storage to partially power your home during an extended outage. (Systems solely for back-up are not eligible.)
You can add a battery system to receive NEM credits for storage exports during peak hours. You may even qualify for a cash incentive from 50 cents to $4.25 per watt for installing your own qualifying battery storage equipment. Visit sce.com/SGIP to learn more about SCE's Self-Generation Incentive Program (SGIP).