Why Utility Tariffs Matter to Your Business
As an electric or natural gas customer, all your charges are governed by utility tariffs.
What Are Utility Tariffs?
Energy providers charge their customers for natural gas or energy usage based on the information in a utility tariff. A utility tariff contains schedules of fees determined according to local government regulations.
Electric Rates vs. Tariffs
Understanding the difference between electric rates and utility tariffs is the first step in taking control of your utility bill.
Electric rates denote how much the utility will charge per unit of demand or unit of electricity consumed. Tariffs are an accrual of charges, including electric rates, that help compute your final bill. The tariff defines consumption tiers, time of use periods and calendar dates such as holidays or service charges.
Why Are Utility Tariffs Important to Your Business?
Energy or utility tariffs will shed light on your company’s billing errors, ways you may be able to reduce your kilowatt-hour charge or demand charges and opportunities to get rebates on new energy-efficient purchases.
Calculating Tariffs: What to Consider
To calculate which tariff schedule will be right for you, it’s essential to consider factors such as:
- Historical usage.
- Demand ratchets.
- Load factor.
- On-peak and off-peak.
- Maximum demand.
Types of Utility Tariffs
Some of the most common types of tariff schedules utility providers offer their customers include:
- Feed-in: A feed-in tariff (FIT) usually involves long-term contracts, from 15 to 20 years. These policies provide a guaranteed, above-market price for producers to support the development of renewable energy sources. For example, if you have solar panels on your roof, you’ll be paid credits for exporting power back to the grid.
- Controlled load: While controlled load tariffs come at a lower charge, they are only available in off-peak times. A controlled load tariff is electricity supplied to a swimming pool, underfloor heating, an electric hot water system or other specific appliances, which are often separately metered.
- Block: Your electricity usage is divided into blocks and each block has its own rate.
- Time of use: Different times of day call for different rates, meaning you’ll typically pay more during peak demand periods such as early evening or late afternoon.
- Single rate: No matter what the demand is like or what time of day it is, you are charged the same amount with a single rate.
How Can RateAcuity Help You?
When you need a commercial tariff rate database, RateAcuity can help. We provide utility companies with an energy rate database to help them enjoy quick and easy access to commercial utility rates. With delivery options encompassing a user-friendly web portal and an application programming interface (API), we are committed to getting you the information you need, precisely when you need it.
Both choices provide standardized reporting and an electric and utility rate dataset on demand. We pride ourselves on helping you and your employees collect up-to-date and accurate electricity rate data easily.
Enjoy an Easy-To-Use Utility Reporting Database With RateAcuity
Utility industry tariffs are essential in determining the costs that affect your business. RateAcuity provides companies with an electric schedule database that makes utility reporting easy and puts information at your employee’s fingertips.
Our database helps you compare electric rate options, access custom electric rate data reports, analyze patterns and trends, integrate data into your software, forecast electric utility returns and more.
If you’d like to optimize your data analysis processes, contact RateAcuity online today.
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