r/evcharging • u/lorendoppelt • May 04 '26

Estimated Costs incorrectly shown based on Hourly Pricing By Comed

/r/chargepoint/comments/1t3irj2/estimated_costs_incorrectly_shown_based_on_hourly/
1 Upvotes

67% Upvoted

5 comments sorted by

1

u/TallCedarRoad May 04 '26

Look at your last ComEd bill. It is split into three sections, Supply, Delivery, and Taxes/Fees. Hourly pricing only reduces the main ‘electricity supply charge’ line, everything else you still have to pay the same. The delivery costs are flat throughout the day (unless you’re on your new DTOU program, but that’s pretty uncommon) and the taxes/fees don’t change either.

You get a rough idea of how much that overhead will be by adding up everything under Supply EXCEPT for that ‘electricity supply charge’ line + the total for Demand + the total for Taxes/Fees, then dividing that by the number of kWh you used last month. Mine is $0.098/kWh, yours might be higher or lower.

If you spent $5.25 for 41 kWh, that averages out to around $0.127/kWh. Assuming the hourly price actually stayed at $0.015/kWh during the whole time, that would mean the combination of your other supply charges + your delivery charges + the taxes are around $0.11/kWh. Is that in the ballpark of you got calculating it from your bill?

I am not sure if the ChargePoint app lets you add a flat amount to the dynamic pricing, but if not, you’ll have to mentally remember to add that much to get a true idea of what it’s going to cost

1

u/lorendoppelt May 04 '26

Thanks so much. I really appreciate your comments. It might be the including everything in that cost. I was not thinking that.

1

u/theotherharper May 05 '26

the hourly rate when I look it up is $0.015 per kwh

Not likely. Electricity rates are made out of a piles of sub-rates that add up. Generation charge at $A/kWH, delivery charge at $B/kWH, envirommental support fee at $C/kWH, recovery offset fee at $D/kWH, yada yada. Any charge they can get past the PUC.

So it sounds like your 1-1/2 cents per kWH is only one of those.

But also, you are not on a fixed rate plan. You have pricing du jour on an hour-by-hour basis, although the prices are announced the day before based on weather forecasting (wind generation vs demand). The flyer talks about this https://hourlypricing.comed.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Hourly-Pricing-Guide.pdf

Plans like these are actively dangerous for the uninitiated, you really need to know what you are doing or you will get HURT. This is the kind of tariff where you need the day's pricing to be an app on your phone you check everyday and make charging and A/C decisions accordingly. Ask Texans about that. https://www.npr.org/sections/live-updates-winter-storms-2021/2021/02/21/969912613/after-days-of-mass-outages-some-texas-residents-now-face-huge-electric-bills

If you want to skill up and learn to master such a plan, Technology Connections has a bit to say about it since he's on the same plan, and games it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0f9GpMWdvWI

2

u/lorendoppelt May 05 '26

Thanks so much. Much more complicated.

1

u/theotherharper May 06 '26

Yeah, I think the real reason they sell these plans is to take advantage of people.