New York households see $200 savings on new power rate, while one solar credit bank vanishes

For Long Island households looking to rein in punishing summer electricity bills, PSEG Long Island's time-of-day pricing is producing sharply different results for different customers.

One resident said the change cut roughly $200 off a typical summer bill. Another said it wiped out more than 1,400 kilowatt-hours in banked solar credits.

Here's what to know

As Newsday reported, PSEG Long Island says customers who shift more electricity use to lower-priced periods often save money under the newer time-of-use rate, especially with off-peak hours running from 8 p.m. to 2 p.m. each day.

That approach appears to be working for Art Pushkin of Dix Hills. He estimated his summer peak bill fell from about $1,300 a month to about $1,100. Pushkin said his Dix Hills household — with central air, a heated pool, and an electric vehicle charger — got there by shifting most of its power use out of the costliest hours.

"I'm trying to adjust anything but the home AC," he said. "I turn it up, but I can't turn it off."

PSEG said about 56% of its 1 million-plus residential customers saved an average of $59.89 over the year under the rate.

The utility also said shifting usage away from peak times reduced summer peak demand by about 32 megawatts. Spokesperson Katy Tatzel said that is "reducing overall power generation costs for customers and lowering emissions."

More background

PSEG says lower off-peak pricing applies during 88% of the hours in an average year, while the priciest summer peak period accounts for less than 5% of the total. For EV owners, the "super off-peak" window can be cheaper still: 5.24 cents per kilowatt-hour between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. The standard summer off-peak rate is 10.93 cents.

But customers who cannot easily shift their usage, or whose billing situation is more complicated, may end up with a very different outcome.

Huntington resident Bill DeCarlo had a different experience. He said that after PSEG moved him to the new rate in January, his bill was $35 higher, and he returned to the old plan in February.

His main complaint, though, involved how PSEG handled his solar bank. DeCarlo said PSEG erased more than 1,457 kilowatt-hours of accumulated credits, and bills of $82.59 in March, $101.73 in April, and $121.17 in May followed.

In August, he took the issue to the Department of Public Service, which then opened an inquiry that remains ongoing.

Tatzel said DeCarlo was credited "in accordance with the [time-of-day] program's guaranteed bill protection policy," while also saying that PSEG is working on ways to improve the program, including "with the net meter banking process."

"Their mistake was they made it very complicated for people on solar," DeCarlo said. "I'm not the only guy who called up and had a heart attack."

What can be done?

PSEG has begun sending anniversary mailers to customers who reached a year on the rate, and Tatzel said those notices will provide "additional insights into their usage over the last year and how they [can] shift their usage to save more."

Customers who are not seeing savings can still leave the plan and return to flat-rate billing.

Where can I learn more?

For more on solar credits, shifting power use, and cutting home energy bills, these stories add useful context.

• Energy expert Liam Madden warned a proposal threatens lucrative incentives while benefiting big utilities.

• On Cape Cod, a homeowner said solar upgrades could leave him 4,100 kWh ahead this year.

• In Connecticut, a new law gives home batteries a major advantage as rooftop incentives face caps.

• In California, an unorthodox power market drastically lowered utility bills while boosting clean energy.

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