Just got notice that Westar Energy is revising their primary service tariff P-1 effective June 1st. The customer-owned transformer discount is increasing from $0.014/kWh to $0.019/kWh. This makes primary service much more attractive for our larger commercial clients here in Wichita. Anyone else seeing similar increases in primary discounts? Seems like utilities are pushing more customers toward owning their own transformers.
Westar Primary Rate Schedule P-1 Changes
Rachel, TVA just did something similar here in Tennessee. Their primary discount went from 1.1 cents to 1.6 cents per kWh in January. I think utilities are realizing it's cheaper to let customers own and maintain transformers rather than upgrading their own aging infrastructure. Had three clients make the switch this year already. The payback periods are getting ridiculously short - some under 12 months now.
Seeing the same trend with Ameren Missouri. They're actively marketing primary service to customers over 500kW demand. The sales rep told me straight up they'd rather not own transformers in industrial areas because of the maintenance headaches. Makes sense from their perspective - transfer the risk to customers who can often maintain equipment better anyway.
Elmer, that's interesting about Ameren's approach. AEP Texas is doing the opposite here in Corpus Christi - they're making it harder to qualify for primary service. New requirements include minimum 750kW demand and 85% load factor. Seems like they want to keep control of their transformers. The discount is still decent at 1.4 cents/kWh but the qualification hurdles are getting higher.
Vivian, Alabama Power is somewhere in the middle. They encourage primary service for manufacturing customers but require pretty extensive application reviews. Had a client wait 4 months for approval last year. The discount makes it worthwhile at 1.7 cents/kWh, but the process can be frustrating. At least once you're approved, the savings are immediate and substantial.
Albert, four months is brutal. Idaho Power here in Boise typically approves primary service applications in 2-3 weeks. Their discount isn't as generous - only 1.2 cents/kWh - but the process is streamlined. Rachel, with Westar's new 1.9 cent discount, you should have clients lined up around the block. That's one of the highest primary discounts I've seen in the utility industry.