BC Hydro aims to ease peak hour power usage with overnight discounts

Are you a night owl or an early riser?

If so, BC Hydro is rolling out a new optional rate structure that could save you money.

The new voluntary time-of-day rates are intended as an incentive for some customers to shift their power usage to off-peak hours when there’s a lower demand for electricity.

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Under the rate structure, participating customers will get a five-cent discount for every kilowatt hour of electricity used during overnight periods from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. Those same customers would pay a rate five cents higher during peak hours from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m.

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Power rates for the remaining hours of the day remain unchanged.

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BC Hydro said potential savings from switching to the fee structure will depend on people’s individual lifestyles.

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The Crown corporation pointed to electric vehicle owners as potential beneficiaries, saying they could save up to $125 per year by signing up and charging their cars overnight. Someone who does two loads of laundry a week could save $25 per year by shifting them after 9 p.m., it said.

The new rate structure is not mandatory and requires a customer to voluntarily sign up at BC Hydro’s website.

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