OG&E Smarthours

[bombermwc]

In the early years of the program. It was very rare to get a critical day. Maybe less than 5 a summer. Now it seems it’s frequent and at least once a week the entire summer.
Does anyone know what they utilize to deal high or critical and any way for customers to know what it is based on and why they deem more that way now

I have unsubscribed as I looked and last year I saved just $9 on June and September bills but l paid more on July and august bills for an overall more expensive summer on smart hours plus had to deal with hot house until house cooled down after system running for an hour after 7 pm

What i think happened was that people were actually saving money. They can't be having that. The whole thing is just a dupe to get you to get so hot that you go ahead and pay the rate and they, as you said, eat up any savings you had. The critical rate days happen here when the entire state is overcast and in the 80s. They claim critical rates on days when OG&E is absolutely not purchasing power from a larger market. That's the pattern that finally did me in. Raise the cost and frequency of the critical days, well there goes any and all benefit. I mean there's really no incentive to stay on the program, so i don't really understand what makes people want to join. OG&E doesn't do anything to actually make people want to join so I have to ask, what's the motivation behind this "offering". Are they required to offer this to check a box, regardless of crappy it is?

[kukblue1]

Things have really changed. When you did have critical days like today it would usually only be critical from 4-6 than a high rate the other hours. Now the whole thing is really a joke. 2-7 now is Critical. I figured out my usage and I might save $20 a month. Is it worth it sitting in a house that is getting up to 78 degrees around 6 pm?

[scottk]

Things have really changed. When you did have critical days like today it would usually only be critical from 4-6 than a high rate the other hours. Now the whole thing is really a joke. 2-7 now is Critical. I figured out my usage and I might save $20 a month. Is it worth it sitting in a house that is getting up to 78 degrees around 6 pm?

I thought they use to limit the number of critical days allowed when the program first began, or as you mentioned it was a rare occurrence and maybe only for a short window in the afternoon?

With this hot weather, it seems any day over 95 now is a critical alert day. We kept our thermostat constant and have found that our A/C unit does better keeping a consistent temperature.

Pre-cooling didn't work well for us, within an hour or 90 minutes our A/C would kick right back on, and then struggle to get back down after 7 PM to a comfortable level.

[bombermwc]

I thought they use to limit the number of critical days allowed when the program first began, or as you mentioned it was a rare occurrence and maybe only for a short window in the afternoon?

With this hot weather, it seems any day over 95 now is a critical alert day. We kept our thermostat constant and have found that our A/C unit does better keeping a consistent temperature.

Pre-cooling didn't work well for us, within an hour or 90 minutes our A/C would kick right back on, and then struggle to get back down after 7 PM to a comfortable level.

I swear its because originally people were saving too much money and they had to "fix" that. I really dont see the benefit to smarthours now. As you said, every day is a critical rate day and the price for those has gone up. And you're right, pre-cooling doesn't work for long. Then it takes hours after 7 to get things where they need to be. So instead of being able to run for a few minutes to maintain a few degree difference, it has to run for 2 hours to get it back down. Tell me how that's efficient? I'd bet you're not really saving in smarthours compared to the expense it is forcing you in to on the flip side.

[kukblue1]

I been tracking it and doing it off .11 cents for the normal rate. I think it's .10 up to 1,400 kw than .11 but there always fees and stuff. My Smart hours never come to .07 so not sure how they are figuring it. Like Sunday I used 85 kw and my bill was $7.20 which is .084 cents so I'm evening questioning if it's really .07 cents. Any way I used 81 kw yesterday the 5th and my bill was $9. Which averaged to .111 if I was on .11 cents it would of been just a tad cheaper. My nest thermostat showed I ran my ac for 11 hours with it being off all of smart hours compared to sunday when it ran 11 hours just set around 74. You are really only saving money on weekends and even than it's not much maybe a few bucks. Don't get me wrong you are saving some on smarthours but if your AC runs even for 15 minutes on a critical day like yesterday your done your savings are totally gone. So if you not home much during those hours or can pre cool your house and not have it run from 2-7 you can save a little but for most people that's not sustainable at all.

[Sydonesia]

I been tracking it and doing it off .11 cents for the normal rate. I think it's .10 up to 1,400 kw than .11 but there always fees and stuff. My Smart hours never come to .07 so not sure how they are figuring it. Like Sunday I used 85 kw and my bill was $7.20 which is .084 cents so I'm evening questioning if it's really .07 cents.

OG&E charges a base hourly amount no matter what. It's like 2 cents an hour or something like that. You could lose power for a day and you'd still be charged 40 cents or so even though you used zero electricity. 8.4 cents an hour when you're paying 7 cents a watt sounds about right.

[kukblue1]

So am I saving money with Smarthours? 2063 KHW bill was 223.38 or .108 cents. My friend bill non smart hours much smaller home was 817 KHW bill was $114 or .139 cents. If others wouldn't posting what their cost was it will would helpful to decide if smarthours is worth it. I know it's still up to the individual and comfort level but is it saving money?

[PaddyShack]

So am I saving money with Smarthours? 2063 KHW bill was 223.38 or .108 cents. My friend bill non smart hours much smaller home was 817 KHW bill was $114 or .139 cents. If others wouldn't posting what their cost was it will would helpful to decide if smarthours is worth it. I know it's still up to the individual and comfort level but is it saving money?

We're not on Smart Hours, our bill for Aug was 1,273 kwh / $172.13. Now my actual cost of electricity is $156.55 or $0.123/kwh. Does everyone pay the same for the winter securitization? Or does this differ based on usage?

[Sydonesia]

So am I saving money with Smarthours? 2063 KHW bill was 223.38 or .108 cents. My friend bill non smart hours much smaller home was 817 KHW bill was $114 or .139 cents. If others wouldn't posting what their cost was it will would helpful to decide if smarthours is worth it. I know it's still up to the individual and comfort level but is it saving money?

As far as this summer went with at least 20-25 critical days, the only way you'd have saved money was if your AC was practically off between 2-7. Having critical days almost every weekday in July and August and raising the low/normal rates to .07/.11 when it was once .05/.10 pretty much eliminated any real savings.

FWIW, mine factored to .1083 cents too and that's with me jumping through hoops to avoid paying any more than I have to. I don't think the effort was worth it this summer.

[Bullbear]

So am I saving money with Smarthours? 2063 KHW bill was 223.38 or .108 cents. My friend bill non smart hours much smaller home was 817 KHW bill was $114 or .139 cents. If others wouldn't posting what their cost was it will would helpful to decide if smarthours is worth it. I know it's still up to the individual and comfort level but is it saving money?

OG&E customer service can actually answer your question most effectively. they can see your usage and Smart hours billed amount each month and what the billed amount would have been by the regular residential rate. I will say most likely you didn't save money with the amount of Critical days this year.

[kukblue1]

As far as this summer went with at least 20-25 critical days, the only way you'd have saved money was if your AC was practically off between 2-7. Having critical days almost every weekday in July and August and raising the low/normal rates to .07/.11 when it was once .05/.10 pretty much eliminated any real savings.

FWIW, mine factored to .1083 cents too and that's with me jumping through hoops to avoid paying any more than I have to. I don't think the effort was worth it this summer.

That's why I'm wondering if it's worth the effort. On the flip side when it was 100 on Saturday and Sunday you were only playing .07 while other paid .11 all day.

[scottk]

To my knowledge, it looks like OGE has added a new Smarthours plan for Oklahoma customers this year called SmartHours Overnight.

You pay a very cheap rate overnight, and I guess would see cost savings if you could shift things like delaying a dishwasher, running a dryer at midnight, etc.

However, from the fine print, it looks like this particular plan, Smarthours Overnight, is year round, compared to the summer cycle of the two other plans that run from June 1 - September 30.


https://www.oge.com/wps/portal/ord/r...vZ0FBIS9nQSEh/

[Bullbear]

To my knowledge, it looks like OGE has added a new Smarthours plan for Oklahoma customers this year called SmartHours Overnight.

You pay a very cheap rate overnight, and I guess would see cost savings if you could shift things like delaying a dishwasher, running a dryer at midnight, etc.

However, from the fine print, it looks like this particular plan, Smarthours Overnight, is year round, compared to the summer cycle of the two other plans that run from June 1 - September 30.


https://www.oge.com/wps/portal/ord/r...vZ0FBIS9nQSEh/

The smart hours overnight is still just for the Smart hours period of June-1 through Sept 30th the same as other smart hours programs.

[BoulderSooner]

The smart hours overnight is still just for the Smart hours period of June-1 through Sept 30th the same as other smart hours programs.

the key here is that peak hours only exist from June1-Sept30th ..

[Bullbear]

the key here is that peak hours only exist from June1-Sept30th ..

Correct.. all smart hours programs peak hours only run June - Sept

[jn1780]

Sounds like though, the "Super Off Peak hours rate" is all year round? If not they need to clarify the verbiage.



I guess that's one way to make up the difference for a having a fixed peak rate of 23 cents during the summer. Your always paying the super off peak rate of 5 cents all year round. Great for night owls.

[Bullbear]

sorry I wasn't clear at differentiating between Peak/ Off Peak/ Super off Peak.
the overnight smart hours has peak and off peak during same period as the other two programs but has a super off peak year round.
Agreed great for night owls and really the rate was designed for Electric vehicle owners to benefit from overnight charging.
hope that is better explained.

[AnguisHerba]

Super Off-Peak is year-round. On-Peak is only the summer months.

https://www.oge.com/wps/wcm/connect/...551261-ooHrlD4

[BoulderSooner]

is there a list of how many peak events there were last summer? ? and which ones there were ..

[GaryOKC6]

I am on average monthly billing and my bill went down 20.00 a month this year. I did not do anything different last year than I did the year before.

[Sydonesia]

is there a list of how many peak events there were last summer? ? and which ones there were ..

According to my past E-mail alerts, there were 18 CRITICAL days last summer. Pretty much any day where the high or heat index is above 100 is going to be critical (Any day where the high is above average is usually a HIGH day.)

To me SmartHours is only worth it if you literally aren't home between 2 and 7 (and I'm one of the rare people whose schedule that works perfectly for.)

[BoulderSooner]

According to my past E-mail alerts, there were 18 CRITICAL days last summer. Pretty much any day where the high or heat index is above 100 is going to be critical (Any day where the high is above average is usually a HIGH day.)

To me SmartHours is only worth it if you literally aren't home between 2 and 7 (and I'm one of the rare people whose schedule that works perfectly for.)

we are basically not home until after 6 every day ..

[kukblue1]

Bringing this up again as I just installed at two tier systems. I get different options from people. Some say it's ok to run it to cool house turn off than run it cool the house back down. Others say it's better just to leave it a certain temp. I'm sure it just comes down to comfort level. When I'm home on Friday only I freeze from 12-2 trying to cool the house down than it's ok than 5-6 gets warm than 6-8 it's hot until the house finally cools down. Having a 2 tier systems seems like I would be better off just leaving it at one temp. Thoughts?

[kukblue1]

Well I'm only 1 day into my new billing cycle. It said my bill would be $187. When I switch over to non smart hours it said it would be $212. So $25 more or about $1 a day. Might be worth it too keep the house one temp all day long as someone is now home those hours 2-7.

[Will Dearborn]

Bringing this up again as I just installed at two tier systems. I get different options from people. Some say it's ok to run it to cool house turn off than run it cool the house back down. Others say it's better just to leave it a certain temp. I'm sure it just comes down to comfort level. When I'm home on Friday only I freeze from 12-2 trying to cool the house down than it's ok than 5-6 gets warm than 6-8 it's hot until the house finally cools down. Having a 2 tier systems seems like I would be better off just leaving it at one temp. Thoughts?

Do you mean a two-stage?

You absolutely should not be listening to anyone telling you to turn off the system entirely.