TikToker Hillary (@hillycake) recently shared an easy tip for saving loads of money on monthly utility bills.
The scoop
Hillary just learned about peak electrical rates and started adjusting her use accordingly. The peak pricing hours in her area are between 4 p.m. and 9 p.m. local time, during which she said she decided not to run laundry or much of anything that uses electricity. She admitted that the fridge and freezer were tough to unplug, but some commenters suggested they could stay cold through an outage with enough ice in them.
@hillycake And i say this with my whole chest: EFF YOU, #pacificelectric ♬ original sound - Hillary Kate
"I unplug everything I can," she said. Though 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. is a relatively common window for peak rates, yours will depend entirely on your utility provider and your service agreement. Check your electrical bill to figure out your rates.
How it's helping
Hillary says she was able to save $230 after a month of this practice. If you're looking to save even more, be sure to take a look at our guide on lowering utility bills.
Peak pricing exists in order to curb demand. If electricity generation can't keep up with demand, residents have to deal with brownouts and outages. Higher pricing during high usage times keeps the grid stable by pushing down demand, resulting in changes like Hillary's. Even without the risk of power outages, ramping up energy production often requires the use of what are called "peaker" plants.
These energy generators are designed to work during peak demand. Due to the speed that the new supply is needed, peaker plants are typically powered by dirty energy like gas and coal. They also often skip efficiency in favor of speed, which increases prices. By minimizing electrical usage during peak times, you're lowering your dependency on these polluting peaker plants.
As inconvenient as this is, these pricing incentives work both ways. Utilities use lower pricing to get folks to power up when grid demand is low. Overnight EV charging is a prime example.
Connected home devices like smart thermostats can also be connected to utilities, so residents can opt in to have their device usage automatically lowered during peak times. This is often fine since most folks won't notice a difference of two degrees in their home heating or cooling.
Individually, that might not sound like big energy savings, but remotely moving that dial across hundreds or thousands of homes saves enough electricity to count as a virtual power plant. Residents often get rewarded for participating, sometimes with credit on their next bill.
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Yes 👍 What everyone's saying
TikTok community members were all on board with Hillary's idea of reducing usage during peak hours.
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One commenter likened it to the old days of cell phone plans: "It's giving 'call me after 9 when the minutes are free.'"
"Getcha a few timer units and plug the things you want off during those times on them schedule them to turn off everyday, I do that myself," suggested another.
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