Hank B. in Minneapolis MN here but working on a ComEd account in Chicago. Office building client is right at the borderline between Small General Service and Large General Service. Their peak demand fluctuates between 95-105 kW monthly and I'm seeing inconsistent rate applications. ComEd seems to switch them back and forth based on monthly peaks. Is there supposed to be some kind of ratchet or averaging period for classification? The tariff language isn't clear on this.
ComEd Small vs Large General Service Threshold Issues
Hank, ComEd's threshold methodology can be confusing. For the Small vs Large General Service boundary at 100 kW, they typically use a rolling 12-month peak basis rather than monthly switching. If your client hits 100+ kW in any month, they should generally stay on Large General Service until their rolling peak drops below 100 kW for a full 12 months. Randy D. - I'd recommend requesting clarification from ComEd's Commercial Services team about their specific reclassification procedures.
Randy, that makes sense but ComEd keeps flip-flopping them monthly. January was 98 kW on Small General, February hit 103 kW moved to Large General, March dropped to 96 kW back to Small General. This can't be right according to what you're saying. Should I file a formal complaint or try to work it out through customer service first? The rate differences are significant. Hank B.
Beverly O. in Cleveland OH. We don't have ComEd here but FirstEnergy has similar threshold issues. I've found success requesting a formal rate classification review in writing. Include 12-24 months of demand history and ask them to explain their methodology. Sometimes the billing system has errors that customer service can't see. Document everything in case you need to escalate to the Illinois Commerce Commission.
Beverly, good advice on documentation. I've been tracking this for 8 months and the switching pattern makes no sense. Some months they stay on Large General even when demand drops below 100 kW, other months they immediately switch back to Small General. There's no consistency. Going to request the formal review as you suggested. Hank B.
Boyd R. from North Dakota here. Had similar issues with our local utility on rate threshold management. Turned out their billing system had a programming error that wasn't applying the ratchet provision correctly. The fix required IT involvement and took three months to resolve retroactively. ComEd's size means they probably have more complex billing systems with potential for similar errors.
Howard J. in Des Moines IA. Hank, what's the dollar impact of the switching between Small and Large General Service? That might determine how aggressively to pursue this. If it's significant money, definitely worth escalating. If relatively small, might be easier to just optimize within whichever rate they're on each month. ComEd can be stubborn about admitting billing system errors.
Howard, the impact varies but averages about $800-1200 monthly difference depending on usage patterns. Over a year that's $10K+ so definitely worth pursuing. Filed the formal rate classification review last week. ComEd has 30 days to respond with their methodology explanation. Will update the thread when I hear back. Thanks everyone for the guidance. Hank B.
Update: ComEd acknowledged their billing system was incorrectly applying the threshold switching. Should have been using 12-month rolling peak not monthly switching. They're correcting it back 18 months and processing refunds for periods where client was incorrectly classified. Took some persistence but got resolved. Thanks for the advice everyone! Hank B.