Derek S. from Houston dealing with a New Jersey property. Client has a mixed-use building - ground floor retail, upper floors office space. PSE&G put them on Schedule GP (General Power) but I think they qualify for Schedule CI (Commercial/Industrial) based on the office portion being over 60% of the load. The building has separate meters but they're aggregated for billing. Anyone dealt with PSE&G mixed-use classifications? The tariff language is confusing as hell.
PSE&G mixed-use property nightmare - retail/office combo rate issues
Ellen P. here in Connecticut, dealt with similar issues with Eversource. Mixed-use is always tricky because utilities want to use the highest rate category. For PSE&G, check if the meters can be separated for billing purposes - sometimes keeping them split gives you better rate options for each use type. Also look at Schedule SGS-TOU if the office load has good time-of-use characteristics.
Paula W. from Nashville. Had a PSE&G case two years ago, similar situation. The key is proving the predominant use classification. PSE&G actually has specific language in their tariff about mixed-use properties - I think it's in Section 4.7. If office use is truly predominant you can argue for the lower commercial rate. But be prepared for a fight, they initially denied our request and we had to file with BPU.
Thanks Ellen and Paula. I found Section 4.7 - you're right about the predominant use language. Going to do a detailed load study to prove the office portion. Will keep everyone posted on the BPU process if it comes to that.
Randy here with an update for future reference. Derek's case went well - PSE&G approved the reclassification after the load study showed 68% office use. The key was providing hourly interval data for 6 months that clearly showed office building load patterns versus retail patterns. They also agreed to 18 months retroactive adjustment worth about $2,400. Good work Derek!