Customers Find Summer Savings with SRP’s Time-of-Use and EZ-3 Price Plans

Mike and Linda Foster’s first full year of living in Arizona is not at all how they imagined. Then again, nothing about 2020 is how anyone imagined. After moving to Queen Creek in August 2019 from the cooler climate of San Diego, they – along with the rest of the globe – were homebound and riding the pandemic roller coaster as best they could. Having their two, grown children and three grandbabies nearby certainly helped. His wife jokingly describes Mike as a “failed retiree” who now works from home full time.

“When we moved back here from California, I retired, but then I did consulting and that turned into a full-time deal,” Mike Foster explained. “We have kids and grandkids within a five-mile radius, so we have people coming in and out.”

When Mike and Linda moved to Arizona and into Salt River Project’s service territory, they had long been accustomed to watching their energy consumption habits.

“We have a 4,000 square-foot home. It’s a big home,” Mike said. “We knew it was going to cost a lot to cool, so we definitely wanted to take advantage of (SRP) programs and help manage the budget.”

Even with working from home and a busy household, signing up for SRP’s Time-of-Use Price Plan seemed like a good way to save money. And it was. Last June, July and August they saved $99 on their SRP bill during the hottest time of the year compared to the Basic Price Plan.

“To be honest, we could have saved more, but we had issues with our air conditioner,” said Linda Foster. “Our thermostats are all controlled. We have a system in our house that controls everything. All you have to do it spend a little time up front planning. I just set the temperature cooler in the morning (to 75 degrees) and at night (to 72 degrees) and then during peak hours just raise it to 78 degrees. It stays cool enough in here and we still save money.”

Here’s how SRP’s Time-of-Day Price Plans work:

• EZ-3: On the EZ-3 Price Plan, customers limit major appliance use from 3–6 p.m. or 4–7 p.m. on weekdays. Weekend hours and six observed holidays are all off peak or lower-cost hours.  
• Time-of-Use: Customers on the Time-of-Use Price Plan and Electric Vehicle Price Plan save money on their bill by using less electricity weekdays from 2 to 8 p.m. between May and October and 5 to 9 a.m. and 5 to 9 p.m. between November and April. Customers pay lower, off-peak prices all other hours, including weekends and six observed holidays.
•  Basic Price Plan: This plan is ideal for customers who typically don't use a lot of energy, are seasonal visitors, or find that other plans aren't a good fit for their lifestyle and household because it’s hard for them to shift energy to off-peak hours. Energy prices are the same no matter when they use energy. Prices go up slightly when energy usage in a month exceeds certain levels, which vary in summer.

SRP also offers a 90-day risk-free guarantee. If a customer’s first three bills aren't lower than what they would have paid on the Basic Price Plan, SRP will credit the difference and switch the customer back to the Basic plan.

Mike says while working from home, he runs a floor fan in his office to keep cooler, while Linda runs a ceiling fan in the room she is in. Considering they are both home all day, Linda says it’s never hot in their house or complicated to navigate. They simply set their smart thermostat and “never give it another thought.”

For them, saving money where they can just makes sense and this summer, with an a/c that is working properly, they are eager to see how much more they can save on SRP’s Time-of-Use Price Plan so they can spend their “retirement” dollars where they really want to.

“Between our kids and grandkids, they will find a way (to spend the extra savings),” Mike joked.
“Give it a try it and see if it is manageable. See if it fits your lifestyle or if you can make the small adjustments to fit your lifestyle,” Linda added.

Extra Info:

• 5 ways to reduce energy usage during on-peak hours 
• How precooling your home helps save on SRP Time-of-Day Price Plans.
• Find details about hourly energy usage on My Account or the SRP Power mobile app. 
• Call SRP anytime at (602) 236-8888 (English) and (602) 236-1111 (Spanish) so a customer service representative can explain how the different plans work. Or, visit srpnet.com/priceplans.
• If a customer is having trouble paying their electric bill for any reason, call SRP immediately. We want to help and can make arrangements to avoid a worsening financial situation. Call 24/7, even on holidays.

Details:
SRP is a community-based not-for-profit utility and sets the price of energy based on how much it costs to produce and distribute it. SRP seeks to keep costs as low as possible for our customers and designed price plans like Time-of-Use and EZ-3 to keep prices low for all our customers by curbing our communities’ energy use during on-peak hours, when energy is most expensive to produce. Most customers save money on the Time-of-Day Price Plans.