Guide
Some utilities charge households for their peak demand
59 household tariffs at 27 utilities charge for peak demand, typically $8.58 per kW a month. From 2027, southern Nevada's homes will pay one by the day.
Almost every residential bill charges for energy: how many kilowatt-hours you used over the month. Some household tariffs also charge for demand: the most power you drew at once, measured in kilowatts. Run the air conditioner, the dryer and the oven together, and that one busy stretch can set a charge for the whole month.
How common it is
Of the 870 household tariffs filed since 2020 in our data, 59, at 27 of 179 utilities, include a demand charge.
- At 23 of the 27, it is one option among others: the utility also files a household rate without one.
- At 4, every current household rate on file includes one. They are three Colorado cooperatives, United Power, La Plata Electric and Intermountain Rural Electric, and Horry Electric Cooperative in South Carolina.
How much it costs
Most charge by the month. At those 26 utilities, the highest demand charge in each one's household tariffs is typically $8.58 per kW of the month's peak. The range runs from $2.23 to $27.99, and nine utilities charge $10 or more:
| Utility | Tariff | Up to, per kW |
|---|---|---|
| Public Service Co. of Colorado (Xcel Energy) | Residential Demand Service (Schedule RD) | $27.99 |
| Consolidated Edison (NY) | Optional Demand-Based (Rate IV) | $25.36 |
| Salt River Project (AZ) | E-15 Customer Generation Average Demand | $25.07 |
| Arizona Public Service | Time-of-Use 4pm–7pm Weekdays with Demand Charge (R-3) | $20.62 |
| Interstate Power & Light (Alliant Energy, IA) | Residential Optional Demand (507) | $17.77 |
| Horry Electric Cooperative (SC) | Residential Rate, Single Phase | $12.00 |
| Georgia Power | TOU-RD-11 Residential Demand Service | $11.70 |
| Tucson Electric Power | Residential Peak Demand (TRRESD) | $11.60 |
| Dominion Energy North Carolina | TOU Residential Service (Schedule 1P) | $11.08 |
To see what that means: a home whose demand peaks at 6 kW in the month pays $51 for it at $8.58 per kW, and $124 at $20.62.
At all 23 utilities that also file a rate without one, the demand tariffs charge less per kWh, so the whole bill need not be higher. Whether it is depends on how sharp your peaks are, which is the point of the tariff: it rewards a household that spreads its heavy use out.
By the day, in southern Nevada
Nevada Power, NV Energy's utility in southern Nevada, charges for demand by the day instead. Its optional Daily Demand Pricing bills 24 cents for each kW of a day's peak, plus 12 cents in summer on-peak hours or 5 cents in winter, and adds the days up. Six kW at the day's peak, in on-peak hours on every day of a 30-day summer month, would come to about $65.
It is about to reach far more homes. NV Energy says that from January 1, 2027, a daily demand charge will be part of residential bills across southern Nevada, set by each day's highest 15 minutes of use, with the price per kWh cut to keep bills about the same overall. It puts a typical household's daily demand charge at about 49 cents a day, and says bills for homes with rooftop solar may rise modestly. Consumer and solar groups have challenged the change; NV Energy says two courts have upheld it.
Who it lands on
- Homes with solar. At Salt River Project, six of the nine demand plans on file are for homes that generate their own power. Panels cut the kilowatt-hours a home buys but do little about its evening peak.
- Homes that use a lot at once. Electric heating, a hot tub or a car charger running alongside the rest of the house all raise the peak.
- Members of the four utilities above, where every household rate on file has one, and from 2027 NV Energy's customers in southern Nevada.
How to keep it down
- Stagger the big loads. Run the dryer, the dishwasher and the oven at different times, especially during the hours the tariff counts.
- Know the window. About half of these tariffs count demand only in certain hours, such as 4 to 7 pm on weekdays at Arizona Public Service; peak hours depend on your utility.
- Charge a car slowly, and outside the window. A charger drawing 7 kW while the rest of the house is busy can add 7 kW to your peak.
How we measured this
- Tariffs: residential tariffs filed since 2020 that include a demand charge, read from each filing's demand rates, adjustments included. Tariffs for irrigation, public buildings, multi-family service and general service are left out, as are monthly demand charges under 50 cents. Nevada Power's daily charges are counted, but kept out of the monthly figures.
- Price per kWh: each tariff's energy rate averaged over the hours of the year, adjustments included, compared at each utility between its demand tariffs and its other household tariffs.
- Southern Nevada's 2027 change: NV Energy's daily demand fact sheet of June 2026.
- Optional or not: a demand tariff counts as optional where the same utility files a household rate without one since 2020. That is read from the filings on record; check the utility's current rules before relying on it.
- This site does not price these tariffs. A demand charge needs your peak kW, which a monthly kWh figure cannot supply, so they are left out of the calculator and the rankings, as the methodology explains.
What to do with this
If your bill shows a line charged per kW, you are on a demand rate. Ask your utility whether a rate without one is open to you, and compare the two over a year of your own usage. The calculator prices every current tariff your utility files that needs only your monthly kWh.