Hi everyone, Ann G. here from Raleigh. I've got a client hovering around 35 kW demand and I'm trying to figure out exactly when Duke moves them from Schedule SGS to LGS. The tariff says "greater than 30 kW" but there's some language about consecutive billing periods that's confusing me. Anyone dealt with this transition recently?
Duke Energy NC Schedule SGS vs. LGS - Where's the breakpoint?
Karen W. from Charlotte - I've seen this a bunch of times. Duke typically looks at 3 consecutive months above 30 kW before they move you to LGS. But here's the kicker - once you're on LGS, you need to stay below 30 kW for 12 consecutive months to get moved back down. Pretty sticky upward movement.
Randy Dawson here. Karen's exactly right about the 3-month rule for moving up and 12-month rule for moving down. This is buried in the General Terms and Conditions section, not the actual rate schedules. The key is watching those shoulder months - April/May and September/October when HVAC loads are transitioning. I've seen customers get caught off-guard when a brief spike in demand locks them into LGS rates for a full year. Always advise clients to implement demand control strategies before hitting that 30 kW threshold consistently.
Wesley F. from Greenville SC here. Similar situation with Duke Energy Carolinas on our side. Had a manufacturing client get bumped to LGS after installing new equipment that pushed them to 32 kW for three months. The demand charges went from $8.77/kW to $11.45/kW. Ouch. Now we're looking at load scheduling to get them back under 30 kW consistently.
Thanks everyone! That General Terms section was exactly what I was missing. Wesley, what kind of load scheduling worked for your manufacturing client? My guy runs a small machine shop with some flexibility in operating hours.
Ann, we implemented a simple demand controller that cycles non-critical equipment when approaching the limit. For a machine shop, you might look at staggering equipment startup times and maybe shifting some operations to off-peak hours. The payback was under 8 months given the rate differential.
One more tip - Duke's online portal shows real-time demand if you have the right meter. Super helpful for staying under that threshold. Your client should be monitoring daily during those transition months.