DEMAND CHARGE – Rate Change
Beginning January 1, 2026, Stanton County Public Power District will implement a new demand charge on monthly bills for some customers who don’t already have one applied.What is Demand?
Demand Charge (expressed as “kW” or “kilowatts”): Demand, the rate at which a customer uses electricity during a specified time period, is measured by the highest rate in that billing period.
Energy Charge (expressed as “kWh” or “kilowatt-hours”): Energy charges are based on the amount of electricity a customer uses during the billing period which is expressed as kWh.
While “Demand” has appeared on your bill as a line item in the past several years, there has never been a charge associated with it. Previously, all demand costs for each rate class were grouped together and recovered through the energy (kWh) charges.
Moving forward, these costs will be “unbundled,” and the demand portion will now be shown as an active charge on your bill. This change helps ensure fairness by better reflecting the actual cost based on each customer’s unique usage pattern.
What is Demand?
Demand Charge (expressed as “kW” or “kilowatts”): Demand, the rate at which a customer uses electricity during a specified time period, is measured by the highest rate in that billing period.
Energy Charge (expressed as “kWh” or “kilowatt-hours”): Energy charges are based on the amount of electricity a customer uses during the billing period which is expressed as kWh.
EXAMPLE #1
Think of it like this: You wake up in the morning, turn the washing machine on using *5 kW, start the dishwasher using another *5 kW, and jump in the shower using another *5 kW. Altogether, you demand 15 kW within a 15-minute time frame. To help save on your kW, you can first jump in the shower using 5 kW. Then, once you are done, turn on your washing machine, and as that finishes, run your dishwasher. Doing this, you are only using up 5 kW within a 15-minute time frame. Though it will take longer, you are essentially saving on your demand charge. *(Not accurate measurements, just used for simplified explanation)
EXAMPLE #2
Another way of understanding demand and consumption is with a “filling the bucket” analogy. Suppose you want to fill a 5-gallon bucket with water. You can use an inexpensive hose connection to your sink, providing 1 gallon per minute to do it, and it will take 5 minutes. Alternatively, you can opt for a more expensive, larger faucet that provides 5 gallons per minute; it will fill in just one minute. The flow rate is equivalent to demand, and the 5 gallons of water are equivalent to consumption. In this example, filling both buckets has the same “consumption” but very different “demands.”
