Priya N. from Chicago but working on a NYC project. I'm in a dispute with ConEd over demand billing on their SC-9 rate schedule. The customer had a brief power outage that caused all their equipment to restart simultaneously, creating a 15-minute spike to 250 kW when their normal peak is around 180 kW. ConEd is billing the full 250 kW demand charge which adds $3,000 to the monthly bill. The tariff language about "maximum demand" seems to allow this but it feels unfair for an abnormal event. Anyone fought similar battles with ConEd?
ConEd NYC tariff interpretation dispute - SC-9 demand billing question
Yuri P. in Chicago. Priya, I've seen this exact situation with ComEd here. Most utility tariffs define maximum demand as the highest 15-minute integrated demand regardless of cause. The "abnormal event" argument usually doesn't work unless it was caused by utility equipment failure. Did ConEd cause the outage or was it building-related?
The outage was building-related - an electrical contractor accidentally tripped the main breaker during routine maintenance. So ConEd will probably argue they're not responsible for the demand spike. I'm wondering if there are any precedents for demand charge forgiveness in these situations.
Randy Dawson here. Priya, ConEd has very limited demand charge adjustment policies. Since this was customer-caused, your best argument might be requesting a one-time courtesy adjustment based on the customer's payment history and the unusual circumstances. I've seen ConEd approve adjustments for long-term customers with good payment records, but it's discretionary. File a formal complaint with their customer service escalation process. The NY PSC complaint process is another option if ConEd refuses, but success rates are low for customer-caused events.
Thanks Randy. The customer has been with ConEd for 15 years with perfect payment history, so that might help. I'll try the courtesy adjustment route first before escalating to the PSC. Worth a shot to save them $3,000.