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[CALIF] Warning! SCE Customers Moved to new Plan unless told otherwise

Discussion in 'Prime Plug-in Charging' started by stevepea, Jul 18, 2020.

  1. stevepea

    stevepea Senior Member

    Joined:
    Apr 16, 2017
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    Location:
    California
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Prime Plus
    Edit:
    For those living in SCE areas of Calif, starting in October SCE will CHANGE your rate plan unless you specifically ask to stay on your current plan. They will change you to a plan of their choice, which may NOT be in your best interest.

    The purpose of this post isn't to tell you which plan is right for you. You'll have to determine that for yourself. But if you do not SPECIFICALLY tell SCE to keep you on your current plan, they will change you to a TOU plan of their choice.

    Figuring out which is the best for you isn't easy, they make it as hard as possible.

    The TOU plans have higher rates than the current Domestic (normal) rate plans but do include a small variable credit (based only on your monthly baseline allowance -- which changes each month) making it hard to figure out which is the better plan unless you can look back at what your monthly baseline allowance was for the past year or so (and hope it doesn't change in the future). Trying to get that info from a service rep is next to impossible if you haven't saved your bills.

    At any rate, you'll need to do the math and figure out what plan you want to be on BEFORE October, because if you don't inform them of any choice by October, they'll switch you to a rate plan of their choice automatically.

    EDIT: IMPORTANT: NEW INFORMATION:
    (1) The language SCE uses about applying the baseline credit (esp with the included examples) is misleading/fradulent. If you pick a TOU plan, you're given a credit (currently 8c) "up to your baseline" (and the included example states that if your "baseline is 200, then you'll get a $16 credit on your bill"). That's misleading at best. The credit will apply only to ACTUAL ENERGY USED, not your full baseline, if you use less than your baseline (which I do every month). So if your baseline is 200 and you USE all 200 you'll get a $16 credit on your bill. But if your baseline is 200 and you only use 100 that month, your credit will only be $8 not $16. SCE doesn't spell this out, and makes it misleading in their wording and examples.

    Here's a clearer (more honest) way to say it than SCE does: If you use a TOU plan, you'll get (currently) 8c off the TOU kw rate for each kw actually used in your baseline (and no credit for anything used above the baseline).

    So if your baseline is 360 (more common) and you use 500 in a particular month, you'll get the 8c/kw only off your first 360. But if your baseline is the same 360 and you only use 127 of that 360, you'll get 8c off the 127kw you actually used (not the full 360).

    The TOU kw rates are much higher than the Domestic rates, with the 8c credit helping bring down the cost, so you'll have to do the math as to which one is better for you.

    (2) While you can switch between TOU plans as you like, once you switch to a TOU plan, you can then only switch back to the normal (Domestic) plan either once or twice during a 12 month period (from the way it was worded it wasn't clear if it was once or twice per 12mo period). So if you switch to a TOU plan, don't like it, and want to switch back to the normal Domestic plan you can, but you can't switch back to a normal (Domestic) plan more than once (or twice?) during any 12 mo period.
     
    #1 stevepea, Jul 18, 2020
    Last edited: Jul 18, 2020