Will Time-of-Use Pricing Cut Your Bill? Free Simulator
TOU beats a flat rate only below a break-even peak share — 15 utilities’ real tariff sheets are preset; enter your kWh and peak share.
· Source: EIA Electric Power Monthly Table 5.6.A (July 2026 data) · next EIA update ~Oct 23
On this page: CalculatorTableHow we calculatedSources
Jump to calculator ↓Sliders are secondary controls over the same numbers — the numeric fields above stay the precise way in. The URL keeps your scenario.
- The deciding input
- Your peak-window usage share
- Preset prices
- Utility tariff sheets / URDB (CC0)
- Not listed?
- Type your own tariff prices
- Break-even
- (flat − off) ÷ (peak − off)
- EV at home
- Overnight kWh billed off-peak
- Estimate
- Not a quote — your bill decides
Why this number
Time-of-use pitches always show the cheap overnight price. The honest question is arithmetic: your usage, split between the peak window and everything else, priced both ways. This simulator does exactly that — with tariff figures read from the utilities’ own sheets, and a break-even share that tells you how much shifting would actually flip the answer.
The 14 preset utilities, side by side
| Utility | Schedule | Peak ¢/kWh | Off-peak ¢/kWh | Peak window | Effective | Notes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pacific Gas & Electric | E-TOU-C | 52.2¢ | 39.9¢ | 4-9pm every day, year-round | 2026-06-01 | Summer (Jun 1-Sep 30) total bundled rates shown (Advice 7921-E, Decision D.26-04-036, Sheet 2, effective … | tariff |
| Florida Power & Light | RTR-1 (Residential TOU Rider, on RS-1 base service) | 28.1¢ | 7.2¢ | Noon-9pm weekdays, Apr-Oct (summer); 6-10am & 6-10pm weekdays, Nov-Mar (winter) | 2026-09-01 | RTR-1 is a rider added to the RS-1 base rate, not a standalone schedule (all RS-1 charges still apply). … | tariff |
| Georgia Power | TOU-RD-11 (base) + TOU-FCR-7 (fuel cost recovery rider) | 19.5¢ | 5.3¢ | 2-7pm weekdays, Jun-Sep (summer); off-peak all other hours incl. all of Oct-May | 2026-06-01 | Base energy charge (TOU-RD-11, eff. billing month 1/2025): on-peak 14.2986c, off-peak 1.5288c/kWh. Time of Use … | tariff |
| Duke Energy Carolinas | Schedule RSTC — Residential Service: Time of Use with Critical Peak Pricing | 26.6¢ | 13.8¢ | 6-9pm weekdays, May-Sep (summer); 6-9am weekdays, Oct-Apr (non-summer) | 2024-08-01 | SC Original Leaf No. 19, PSCSC Docket 2023-388-E, Order 2024-445. Duke's own site (duke-energy.com) could not … | tariff |
| Arizona Public Service | TOU-E — Time-of-Use 4pm-7pm Weekdays | 34.4¢ | 12.3¢ | 4-7pm weekdays, year-round | 2024-03-08 | A.C.C. No. 6154, Revision No. 3, Decision No. 79293. Winter off-peak is nearly identical (12.351c). Super … | tariff |
| Salt River Project | E-28 — Residential Time-of-Day Service with Super Off-Peak Hours ("Conserve 6-9pm and Save") | 18.9¢ | 15.1¢ | 6-9pm weekdays, year-round | 2025-11-01 | "Summer" billing cycles (May, Jun, Sep, Oct) totals shown. Super off-peak (8am-3pm daily, all seasons): … | tariff |
| Xcel Energy (Public Service Co. of Colorado) | Schedule RE-TOU — Residential Energy Time-of-Use Service | 20.9¢ | 7.7¢ | 3-7pm weekdays, Jun-Sep (summer); shoulder period 1-3pm weekdays priced separately | 2024-05-01 | 3-period TOU (Sixth Revised Sheet 33B, Advice Letter 1948, effective 5/1/2024): Summer Shoulder (1-3pm … | tariff |
| Dominion Energy Virginia | Schedule 1G — Residential Service ("Off-Peak Plan") | 21¢ | 5.1¢ | 3-6pm weekdays, May-Sep (summer); 6-9am & 5-8pm weekdays, Oct-Apr (winter) | 2026-07-01 | Sum of Distribution + Electricity Supply (Generation) + Transmission per-kWh components (filed 6/16/26, … | tariff |
| DTE Electric | D1.11 — Time of Day 3pm-7pm Standard Base Rate | 24.1¢ | 18.4¢ | 3-7pm weekdays, year-round | 2025-02-06 | All-in total = Power Supply (Summer Jun-Sep: Capacity 5.360c + Non-Capacity Energy 9.047c = 14.407c peak; … | tariff |
| Entergy Texas | RS-TOD — Residential Service - Time of Day | 20.8¢ | 3.6¢ | 1-9pm weekdays, May-Oct (summer); 6-10am & 6-10pm weekdays, Nov-Apr (winter) | 2022-12-03 | Effective date shown on tariff: 12-3-2022 (implemented 6-2-2023), Revision 16. Base Energy Charge only; … | tariff |
| PacifiCorp (Pacific Power) | Schedule 19 — Residential Service: Time of Use Pilot | 13.7¢ | 8.4¢ | 2-10pm daily, Jun-Sep (summer); 6-8am & 4-10pm daily, Oct-May (winter) | 2026-01-01 | WN U-76, Sixth Revision of Sheet No. 19.1, Docket UE-250224, issued 12/23/2025, effective 1/1/2026. Rate is … | tariff |
| Oklahoma Gas & Electric | R-TOU — Residential SmartHours Fixed | 27.5¢ | 3.6¢ | 2-7pm weekdays, Jun-Sep; no on-peak period in winter | 2025-01-01 | 6th Revised Sheet No. 3.30/3.31, Oklahoma Corporation Commission Order 745601 (Case PUD 2023-000087), … | tariff |
| Sacramento Municipal Utility District | Rate Schedule R-TOD — Residential Time-of-Day (5-8pm) Rate (RT02) | 37.7¢ | 15.5¢ | 5-8pm weekdays, year-round | 2026-01-01 | Sheet No. R-TOD-1/2, Resolution No. 25-06-15 (adopted 6/19/2025), "Effective as of January 1, 2026" column … | tariff |
| Alabama Power | Rate RTA — Energy Only, Residential Time Advantage (Optional) | 29.3¢ | 9.3¢ | 1-7pm weekdays (Central Time), Jun-Sep (summer) | 2023-06-01 | Base tariff filed Oct 2011 (Docket U-5024); the kWh charges shown are as currently adjusted by Rate RSE (Rate … | tariff |
Every row is read from the utility’s own published tariff (or its OpenEI URDB record, CC0); seasonal details sit in the linked source. Prices change — the linked sheet is always the authority.
How the arithmetic works
The flat plan is simple: every kilowatt-hour costs the same. The TOU plan splits the month: TOU cost = peak share × peak price + (1 − peak share) × off-peak price, applied to your kWh. Setting the two equal and solving gives the break-even peak share — (flat − off-peak) ÷ (peak − off-peak) — the single most useful number in the comparison. It does not depend on how much electricity you use at all: it is purely a property of the three prices, which is why the verdict often survives even a rough usage estimate.
Two honest limits. Fixed monthly charges can differ between a utility’s flat and TOU plans, and this simulator compares energy charges only — check the tariff sheet’s basic charge before switching. And seasonal tariffs (most of California’s, for instance) have different summer and winter prices; the presets carry the current season with the other one noted in the source.
Where this decides real money
The plans diverge hardest for two kinds of households. EV owners get the biggest reliable win, because overnight charging is off-peak by definition — that is why utilities market TOU plans at them. Evening-heavy households — cooking at six, air conditioning through the peak window — are the reliable losers, and the break-even share makes the size of the required behavior change explicit before the first surprising bill, not after.
Frequently asked questions
What share of my usage is in the peak window?
Nobody can tell you a universal number — it depends on when you cook, cool and charge. If your utility has a smart-meter portal, it will show usage by hour; that is the real answer. Without it, a household home in the evenings often lands around a third, and the slider lets you test the range honestly.
Where do the preset prices come from?
From each utility’s own published tariff sheet, or its record in the OpenEI Utility Rate Database (public domain, CC0) — never estimated. Each preset shows the schedule name, peak window, effective date and a link to the source. Tariffs change and many are seasonal, so the linked sheet always outranks the preset.
Does an EV change the answer?
Usually in TOU’s favor, and often decisively: overnight charging lands entirely in the off-peak window, so every EV kWh widens the gap between the two plans. Enter your monthly charging kWh in the EV field — and for the full house-plus-car picture, the EV whole-home calculator nets the two out in more detail.
Is a lower TOU bill guaranteed if I shift my usage?
No. If the spread between peak and off-peak is small and your flat rate is low, even a large shift may not close the gap — the break-even figure makes that visible before you switch. And some utilities’ TOU plans carry different fixed charges, which this simulator does not model; check the tariff sheet for those.
How we calculated this
TOU bill = peak share × kWh × peak rate + (1 − peak share) × kWh × off-peak rate; flat bill = kWh × flat rate. The break-even peak share is where the two are equal: (flat − off-peak) ÷ (peak − off-peak). Presets carry each utility’s published peak/off-peak prices and window with its tariff sheet and effective date.Sources: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) electricity rates · DSIRE incentive records · public IRS/OBBBA guidance. Figures are modeled estimates, not quotes or tax advice. See our methodology.
Where to go next
- EV on a time-of-use rate: whole-home calculator — The deeper version of the EV question — cold weather, fast charging and the whole house’s exposure, netted out.
- Electricity cost calculator — What any single appliance costs at your rate — useful for sizing what a shifted load is actually worth.
- Electricity rates by state — The flat-rate side of this comparison: all 50 state averages, ranked, with a downloadable CSV.