Last summer, many small businesses were hit by unusually high energy bills due to record breaking temperatures and other factors. This summer, making a simple change in energy pricing plans could help small businesses alleviate bill spikes even when temperatures rise, and air conditioners are on full blast.

Sign up for an energy plan that won’t subject you to 400% increases in energy prices

Many small businesses are on an energy plan known as “Time-of-Use – event day plan”. This plan is subject to “Reduce Your Use” days in which the price for energy rises as much as 400% during certain time periods due to the need to conserve energy to prevent blackouts.

It is impossible to predict how many “Reduce Your Use” days will be called because it is weather-driven. But if this summer is anything like last year, small businesses could be exposed to a high number of event days, which will result in unusually high bills.

What should small businesses do? Sign up for a non-event day Time-of-Use plan. 

Plan types may vary by business type and size. Simply log in to your MyAccount to view your options or speak with one of SDG&E’s customer service representatives at 1-800-311-7343.  

Key things to consider for event vs. non-event day Time-of-Use Plans

We know, the last thing you want to do when running your business is spend time thinking about your power bill. These quick facts outline the differences to help you make your decision.

Event day plan, formally known as “Time-of-Use Plus (often referred to as critical peak pricing):

• Plan is subject to 400% increase in electricity price during event
• A maximum of 18 events can be called a year (In summer 2018, there were 6 event days called in a 6-week period)
• Events can occur on any day of the week from 2 p.m.-6 p.m.
• SDG&E will notify customers via email/text/phone by 3 pm the day before an event. Event information is also posted on SDGE’s website a day before an event is called.  
• On average, this plan typically results in lower annual energy costs than non-event day plans (depending on the number of event days called in one year)

Bottom line: if your business is able reduce energy use during 2p.m.-6p.m. on event days, this plan could be a good option.

Non-event day plan

• Not subject to 400% increase in electricity price during event
• Annual energy costs may be slightly higher than event-day plans but are not subject to monthly bill volatility that may occur in event-day plans

Bottom line: if your business is not able to reduce energy use or shift operations during 2p.m.-6p.m. this plan could be a good option.

You don’t have to sweat your power bills this summer. View your options and sign up for a new plan by logging into MyAccount. Haven’t registered for MyAccount? No problem, it takes just a few minutes to register at sdge.com/myaccount.