Will from Boston. New to the forum. I keep seeing references to coincident versus non-coincident demand in some tariff schedules and I am not sure what the distinction means practically. Can someone explain?
Coincident demand versus non-coincident demand — what is the difference
Derek from Charlotte. Non-coincident demand is the highest demand your account reached at any point during the billing period regardless of when it happened. Coincident demand is the demand your account registered at a specific time defined by the utility — usually the time of the utility's system peak load.
Will again. So coincident demand is based on what the utility's entire grid was doing, not just my client's facility?
Derek again. Exactly. The utility defines one or a few specific time windows — often a summer afternoon period — when system load is highest. Your client's demand during those windows is their coincident demand for that period. If your client happens to be low during those windows their coincident demand charge is low even if they had high non-coincident demand at other times.
Victor from Cleveland. The audit implication is significant. A client with operations that are naturally low during summer afternoon peak hours — say a school or a business that shuts down early — may be paying non-coincident demand charges when they could benefit from a coincident demand tariff.
Victor that is an interesting rate optimization angle. How would I know if a coincident demand rate is available in a territory?
Victor again. Search the tariff for coincident demand, on-peak demand, and system peak. Coincident demand rate schedules are common in territories with hot summer peaks and high air conditioning load. They reward customers who shift load away from the system peak.