Critical Peak Pricing
With a Critical Peak Pricing plan (CPP-D), your business can save money and help stabilize the electrical grid when you conserve energy on event days.
SDG&E bundled business customers can enroll in a Critical Peak Pricing (CPP-D) plan and maximize savings by knowing the details of their plan. CPP-D includes a Critical Peak Pricing (CPP) event day component when customers may be asked to conserve energy due to high demand on the electrical grid.
|
|
$ Super Off-Peak |
$$ Off Peak |
$$$ On-Peak |
$$$$ Critical Peak Pricing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weekdays |
12 a.m. – 6 a.m. 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. |
6 a.m. – 4 p.m. 9 p.m. – 12 a.m. |
4 p.m. – 9 p.m. | |
| Weekends and holidays | 12 a.m. – 2 p.m. |
2 p.m. – 4 p.m. 9 p.m. – 12 a.m. |
4 p.m. – 9 p.m. | |
| Critical Peak Pricing Event | 4 p.m. – 9 p.m. |
* Critical Peak Pricing (CPP) event days may be called when energy use and demand on the grid are high. The CPP Event Period rate is an additional charge that will be billed to customers from 4-9 p.m. during a CPP event day, in addition to the corresponding energy charges for the same 4-9 p.m. time period. The CPP event period rate is not applicable during non-CPP event days. For up-to-date pricing schedules and additional pricing plan details, visit our Total Electric Rates page.
Plan Features
With CPP-D, there are two ways to save: shifting when you use energy and reducing your energy use on CPP event days.
Plan features include …
- Peak pricing between 4 p.m. and 9 p.m. every day
- Three pricing periods that include super savings during nights, weekends and holidays.
- Includes up to 18 Critical Peak Pricing Event Days per year
- A Capacity Reservation option
Plan Pricing and Additional Information
For up-to-date pricing schedules and additional pricing plan details, visit our Total Electric Rates page.
Critical Peak Pricing (CPP) event days: A CPP event day may be activated when energy use and demand on the grid are high. If an event day is called, your business will be asked to conserve energy between 4 p.m. and 9 p.m., the time period when energy pricing and demand are highest. Up to 18 event days may be activated per calendar year.
CPP event period rate: An additional charge that will be billed to customers from 4-9 p.m. during a CPP event day, in addition to the corresponding energy charges for the same 4-9 p.m. time period. The CPP event period rate is not applicable during non-CPP event days.
Capacity Reservation Charge (CRC): An amount you can choose with your CPP-D plan, which allows you to protect a portion of your anticipated energy needs from higher peak pricing on a CPP event day when you cannot conserve energy. To review your CRC, sign into sdge.com/myenergycenter or contact your Account Executive.
CPP event day notifications are sent to the email address(es) on file in My Energy Center. Notifications will be sent out via text or email by 3 p.m. the day before an event day is activated.
If you’re enrolled in this pricing plan, now is a good time to review your contact information and make sure that it is up to date.
For more details on this pricing plan please reference the CPP-D tariff.
Plan Pricing Eligibility
The CPP-D plan is available to business customers who are currently receiving bundled utility service on a commercial/industrial rate schedule and whose maximum monthly demand is equal to or exceeds, or is expected to equal or exceed, 20 kW for 12 consecutive months.
This pricing plan is not available to CCA or DA business customers. For more details and requirements on this pricing plan, please reference the CPP-D tariff.
If you have additional questions about CPP-D eligibility, please contact the Customer Care Center. If you’re an assigned business customer, please contact your Account Executive.
Frequently Asked Questions
Your business may benefit from CPP-D if you can reduce energy use during CPP event days, which are activated up to 18 days per calendar year.
CPP event days may be called up to 18 times per calendar year. They can occur year-round, seven days a week and between 4 p.m. to 9 p.m.
A CPP event day may be activated when customers need to reduce electricity use due to periods of high electrical demand or when electrical system reliability is in jeopardy. The most common triggers are based on system load and temperature.
Other triggers can include electrical emergency alerts issued by the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) or an SDG&E system emergency that affects local grid operations.
No, customers are not required to shut off power during a CPP event day. However, if your electric use is not covered through capacity reservation, electric use during a CPP event day will be charged at a rate that is significantly higher than the normal Time-of-Use rates.
SDG&E can help you plan your demand reduction strategies ahead of an event day so that when an event day is called, you can respond without major disruption to your business operations.
A CPP event day can only be canceled if it is called as the result of an electrical system emergency alert issued by the CAISO; a CPP event day cannot be canceled if it is called based on criteria other than electrical system emergency alerts issued by the CAISO.
SDG&E receives temperature forecasts from the Weather Channel.
SDG&E relies on forecasts to give customers time to prepare for critical use periods. Because many businesses invest time and money into being able to respond to load reduction requests, we understand that it would complicate the situation to cancel a CPP Day and have the business community keep re-adjusting their operations.
You can view SDG&E’s system load information on the CAISO website’s OASIS page, which shares hourly system load and forecasts for each utility’s system within the CAISO control area.
If you’d like additional information about the Critical Peak Pricing plan, you can contact our Business Care Center at 1-800-336-7343. If you have an Account Executive, you can reach out to them directly.