Been auditing bills for Empire Electric customers here in Missouri and found something interesting in their 2025 rate filing. They're adding a new "Regional Transmission Service" charge that's separate from their existing transmission cost recovery mechanism. It's $2.85/kW for customers over 100kW demand, but here's the kicker - it's based on the customer's contribution to the regional peak, not their individual peak. So a business that peaks in winter could still get hit with high summer charges if the regional system peaks in summer. Has anyone else seen utilities doing this kind of cross-seasonal allocation?
Empire Electric's sneaky transmission charges - anybody else catch this?
Elmer, we're seeing something similar with AEP Texas down here in Corpus Christi. They call it "Network Integration Transmission Service" and it's causing headaches for my industrial clients. The rate is $3.20/kW but it's allocated based on the customer's load during the top 5 regional peak hours of the year - which could happen when the customer isn't even operating. I had one petrochemical plant get charged $18,000 for transmission costs during a planned maintenance shutdown when they were using zero power. Appealed it successfully but took four months to resolve.
This is becoming a trend across the MISO footprint. Alabama Power is implementing something similar in 2025 - they're calling it a "Grid Reliability Charge" at $4.15/kW based on regional coincident peak. The problem is customers have no visibility into when these peaks occur until they get the bill. I've been telling clients to install interval meters and real-time monitoring just to track when the regional system is peaking. It's adding complexity but there's money to be saved if you can predict and avoid those peak windows.
Albert's right about the MISO trend. NPPD here in Nebraska is doing the exact same thing starting January 2025. They're calling it "SPP Regional Transmission" at $2.95/kW and it's allocated during the Southwest Power Pool's monthly peak hour. The frustrating part is customers only find out about their allocation 45 days after the fact. I've got three clients who are considering installing battery systems specifically to discharge during probable regional peak hours. The economics are borderline but might make sense if these charges keep escalating. Anyone have experience with batteries for peak shaving regional transmission costs?