How electric rates work
How Norris Electric is charged for electricity
N
orris Electric Cooperative is a
not for profit electric distribution cooperative. Norris purchases
power from a power supplier and in
turn distributes it through our power
system to our cooperative members.
In simple financial terms, Norris
buys the power, adds enough margins to cover our operating costs and
sells the power to our members. We
would like to explain in more detail
how this process works, but first here
are some definitions:
What is load?
Collectively, all of the equipment in
an electrical circuit that consumes
electricity.
What is power, or demand?
The rate at which work is done at
any given instant, measured in watts.
It is calculated by multiplying current times voltage (amps x volts). It
is comparable to a car’s speedometer
in that the faster you drive at any
given time results in a higher miles
per hour. The more power you use
at any given time results in a higher
demand (watts).
What is a kilowatt?
1000 watts. The unit by which electric power is measured.
What is energy?
The amount of work done over time.
It is comparable to a car’s odometer
in that the more miles driven results
in a higher odometer reading. The
more energy used results in a higher
kilowatt-hour (kWh) reading on
your electric meter.
What is a kilowatt-hour?
The basic unit used to measure electrical energy by utilities. Kilowatthours are determined by multiplying
power (kW) by time (hours). Not
interchangeable with kilowatt, it represents 1000 watt-hours. This is the
value read on your electric meter.
Norris is billed monthly from our
power supplier for both demand and
energy charges. Again, the demand
measures the power supplied in
kilowatts (kW) (Speedometer) and
the energy measures the quantity of
electricity supplied in kilowatt-hours
(kWh). (Odometer)
The demand portion is billed based
on the total of the highest 30-minute
kW demand of each substation on
our system. The energy portion is
billed based on the total kWh used
in the month. Over half of Norris
Electric’s power bill is from kW
demand charges.
The most understandable way
to lower a power bill is to use less
energy (kWh). The not so obvious
way is to lower the demand (kW).
Look for ways to lower demand later
in the article.
How Norris Electric charges
for electricity
Commercial/Industrial
(Large Power)
There are four basic types of charges
in a commercial/industrial electric bill:
Facilities Charge
The cooperative incurs similar costs
for all members regardless of how
much electricity they consume. These
costs include investments for poles,
wire, transformers, and meters as
well as expenses for reading meters,
billing and member accounting. This
monthly charge is designed to recover
those costs which do not vary with the
amount of electricity used.
Demand
The demand (kW) is the greatest
amount of electrical power supplied
to you at a specific interval during
the billing period. Demand charges
cover the costs incurred by the
cooperative to build and maintain a
system of the correct capacity to serve
the facility. The costs for demand
pay for the cooperative to have lines
of appropriate size, a transformer
that can meet peak requirements,
and services (equipment, supplies
and personnel) that can meet all of
the needs. The demand charge is
calculated on the basis of the highest
demand over a short period of time
(60 minutes) during the billing period.
This amount covers the cooperative’s
Continued on 16b X
ILLINOIS COUNTRY LIVING | JUNE 2016
16A
Continued from 16a
cost of capacity so it can meet
demand for power at any time
during the entire billing period.
Energy
The kilowatt-hour (kWh) charges
cover the total amount of energy
used during the billing period. kWh
charges may be at a flat rate where
every kilowatt-hour from the first
one to the last one costs the same
amount, or it may be charged at
a declining rate where the more
kilowatt-hours you use, the less each
kWh costs.
Taxes
Illinois State taxes and in some areas
a municipal tax are added.
a portion of the power supplier
demand charge. Members are billed
on a kilowatt-hour basis only.
Residential bills include a basic
facilities charge and a kWh charge
for all kilowatt-hours used during
the billing period, and applicable
taxes. An electric heat rate is also
available where the price of a
kilowatt-hour is discounted during
the winter months (November
through May) to encourage the use
of electric heat.Our energy advisors
educate our large power consumers
on how to reduce the demand
component of their bill. But what
about residential members?
Residential
What can a residential member do
to reduce demand?
There are three types of charges
that make up the residential electric
bill. There is no demand charge for
residential members at this time.
The kilowatt-hour rate includes
Norris has a summer peaking load
from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. and a winter
peaking load that is typically from 4
p.m. to 9 p.m. but can occasionally
occur from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. on very
cold winter mornings. The peak
demand periods in the summer are
typically when air conditioners are
working the hardest.
Operating appliances such as your
dishwasher, oven, washer and dryer
outside of these periods will help to
lower our demand charge. If we can
reduce this demand, we can reduce
our annual cost of purchased power.
This reduction in demand will help
to keep future costs and rates down
as well as delay the need to build
new generating plants.
Below is a table of hourly demand
data from a sample meter. This
data is readily available from our
digital meters. The peak demand
is the highest demand during the
peak periods (highlighted in light
gray below). The peak demand for
this meter was 5.5 kW at 7pm on
Wednesday March 23 2016.
Sample Hourly Demand Data
Date
3/22/2016
3/23/2016
3/24/2016
3/25/2016
3/26/2016
3/27/2016
3/28/2016
3/29/2016
3/30/2016
3/31/2016
4/1/2016
4/2/2016
4/3/2016
4/4/2016
4/5/2016
4/6/2016
4/7/2016
4/8/2016
4/9/2016
4/10/2016
4/11/2016
4/12/2016
4/13/2016
4/14/2016
4/15/2016
4/16/2016
4/17/2016
4/18/2016
4/19/2016
4/20/2016
4/21/2016
16B
1 AM
1.08
0.96
1.6
1.02
1.08
1.02
0.96
0.96
1.08
0.96
0.89
1.08
1.08
0.96
1.08
1.08
1.02
1.08
1.4
1.08
1.02
1.02
1.08
0.96
0.96
1.02
1.02
0.89
0.96
1.02
0.96
2 AM
1.15
1.15
1.6
1.08
1.15
0.96
1.15
1.02
1.02
1.02
1.08
1.08
1.15
1.02
1.08
1.15
1.02
1.15
1.53
1.21
1.08
1.15
1.15
1.08
1.02
1.02
1.02
1.02
1.02
1.02
1.02
3 AM
1.08
1.08
1.66
1.08
1.08
0.89
1.02
1.15
1.08
0.96
0.96
1.08
1.15
0.89
1.02
1.08
1.02
1.15
1.34
1.08
1.02
1.15
1.08
1.15
0.89
0.96
0.96
1.02
1.02
1.08
1.02
4 AM
1.08
1.08
1.66
1.15
1.15
1.02
1.08
1.02
1.15
0.96
1.15
1.08
1.15
0.96
1.08
1.08
1.15
1.15
1.21
1.21
1.08
1.08
1.15
1.02
1.02
1.02
1.02
0.96
1.08
1.02
0.96
5 AM
1.28
1.08
1.6
1.15
1.15
1.02
1.34
1.34
1.15
1.08
1.21
1.15
2.24
0.89
1.08
1.28
1.08
1.6
1.28
1.15
1.98
1.21
1.21
1.15
1.02
0.96
0.96
1.21
1.02
1.21
1.15
6 AM
1.4
1.34
1.6
1.4
1.21
1.15
2.04
1.34
1.4
1.28
1.47
1.15
1.66
0.89
1.08
1.28
1.4
2.49
1.15
1.08
2.36
1.47
1.47
1.4
1.34
0.96
1.02
1.6
1.34
1.72
1.4
7 AM
1.66
1.02
1.66
1.98
2.75
1.08
1.08
1.02
1.02
0.96
1.15
1.47
0.83
0.83
0.96
1.28
1.85
1.15
1.4
2.04
1.21
1.08
1.92
1.4
1.4
1.21
1.98
3.07
2.3
1.6
0.89
8 AM
2.3
1.98
2.68
5.12
3.52
2.36
1.02
1.79
2.04
1.4
2.11
2.17
0.7
0.76
0.96
2.24
2.62
0.83
2.17
2.11
1.02
1.47
3.9
2.04
1.92
2.17
1.79
2.3
3.52
2.17
1.6
9 AM 10 AM 11 AM 12 PM 1 PM
1.15 0.89 0.89 0.89 1.21
2.17 0.76
0.7 0.76 1.02
3.13 2.43
1.4
1.4 1.6
2.36 1.02 1.92 2.43 2.56
2.17 2.62 2.81 3.58 2.24
1.53 1.66 1.28 1.92 1.85
0.89 0.96 0.89 1.02 1.53
3.58 1.15 0.96 0.89 1.4
3.13 2.62 1.28 1.15 1.72
2.04 1.72 0.96 0.96 0.89
2.3 3.84 0.96 0.96 1.92
3.26 3.64 3.07 1.98 1.53
0.7
0.7 0.76
0.7 0.7
0.64
0.7
0.7
0.7 0.7
0.83 0.83 0.76 0.76 0.64
2.43 2.17 0.83 0.83 1.98
3.84 4.22 1.02 1.02 2.68
0.89 1.21 0.89 0.83 1.15
2.3
4.8
2.3
1.4 3.26
1.66 1.34
1.4 2.04 2.24
0.96 1.47 0.96 0.96 3.26
2.3 3.84 0.89 0.96 2.3
2.17
1.6 0.96 0.83 0.76
1.53 1.21 0.83 0.83 0.96
3 4.35 0.76
0.7 0.76
3.52 2.62 2.24 0.96 0.83
0.76 0.76 0.96 0.83 0.89
1.08 2.43 0.89 0.83 1.98
1.02 0.83 0.76 0.76 1.4
2.24 3.84 0.83 0.89 1.66
2.11
1.6 0.89 1.08 0.96
ILLINOIS COUNTRY LIVING | WWW.ICL.COOP
2 PM
1.28
0.96
1.79
2.43
2.49
1.28
1.79
1.85
1.92
1.02
1.79
1.6
0.7
0.7
0.7
2.62
4.03
1.4
3.71
1.6
2.49
1.53
0.7
1.02
1.28
0.96
0.76
1.72
1.15
3.9
0.76
3 PM
0.76
0.96
1.4
2.43
2.68
1.21
1.21
1.08
1.79
0.76
0.76
1.53
0.64
0.7
0.64
3.77
1.53
0.89
1.98
1.53
0.89
0.83
0.76
0.83
0.83
1.53
0.76
0.89
1.47
0.96
1.28
4 PM
1.21
0.96
1.47
1.92
3.07
1.21
0.96
1.15
4.41
1.34
0.76
1.53
0.7
0.7
0.7
2.36
0.89
0.76
1.85
1.4
0.83
1.21
0.89
0.83
0.83
1.4
1.21
0.76
0.89
0.76
0.83
5 PM
1.79
1.02
2.11
1.15
2.62
1.72
0.76
1.15
1.92
1.72
0.96
1.53
0.7
0.64
0.7
1.85
1.28
0.83
1.15
1.66
0.76
1.98
1.47
1.08
0.96
1.21
1.4
0.76
0.96
1.08
0.7
6 PM
0.89
1.66
2.3
1.15
2.56
4.09
1.15
0.83
1.85
1.98
1.66
1.47
0.7
0.64
0.64
3.84
2.17
1.47
1.21
1.79
2.3
2.36
1.72
1.28
1.79
0.96
1.4
1.28
0.96
0.89
1.02
7 PM
0.76
5.5
3.45
1.47
2.24
1.92
3.71
1.72
1.72
1.47
1.92
1.66
0.7
0.7
0.7
2.24
1.28
3.26
1.4
1.66
4.6
1.66
1.6
2.17
1.08
1.66
1.47
1.34
1.85
0.96
1.72
8 PM
1.08
2.81
4.22
2.24
2.68
1.72
2.49
3.96
2.24
1.53
1.72
1.92
0.96
1.02
1.08
3.71
2.3
1.92
1.79
1.47
2.75
1.53
1.66
1.53
1.34
1.4
1.66
2.11
1.92
1.02
1.98
9 PM 10 PM 11 PM 12 AM Peak
1.79 1.53 1.15 1.08 2.3
2.56 2.36 1.85
1.6 5.5
1.92
1.6 1.02 1.15 4.22
2.11 1.79
1.6 1.15 5.12
2.3 1.79
1.4 0.96 3.58
1.79 1.79 1.08 0.96 4.09
2.11 1.34 1.08 0.96 3.71
1.79 1.21 1.08 0.96 3.96
1.72 1.28 1.08 0.96 4.41
1.79 1.34 1.08 1.02 2.04
1.79
1.6 1.15 1.08 3.84
1.79 1.47 1.21 1.08 3.64
1.15 1.15 1.02 0.89 2.24
1.21 1.34 1.08 1.08 1.34
1.15 1.28 1.85 1.28 1.85
1.66
1.4 1.21 1.02 3.84
2.17 1.85 1.34 1.15 4.22
2.56 1.92 2.04 1.47 3.26
2.36 2.17
1.4 1.08 4.8
1.53 1.34 1.28 1.08 2.24
1.98 1.66 1.28 1.15 4.6
1.92
1.4 1.28 1.08 3.84
1.72 1.53 1.34 1.02 3.9
1.66 1.66 1.21 1.08 2.17
1.53 1.79
1.6 1.02 4.35
2.11 1.34 1.28 1.02 3.52
1.85 1.34 1.08 1.02 1.98
2.11 1.66 1.15 1.08 3.07
2.56 1.79 1.47 1.02 3.52
1.53 1.28 1.15 1.15 3.9
1.92 1.34 1.08 1.02 2.11
Peak Demand
5.5
What else can I do to reduce
my demand?
During times of peak demand,
here are simple steps you can take to
reduce electricity demand:
• Finish before 4 p.m. or wait until
after 9 p.m. in the evening to run
large appliances such as washing
machines, clothes dryers and
dishwashers.
• Use the microwave or convection
oven instead of the oven or range
whenever possible.
• Use a plug in timer to run your
pool pump 12 hours per day
(between the hours of 10 p.m.
to 10 a.m.) instead of around
the clock.
• Turn off all of the unnecessary
lights around your home.
• Set the thermostat on the water
heater to a lower temperature
during the summer, such as
120 degrees.
• Use LED light bulbs
• When properly set, your
programmable thermostat can
help reduce your heating and
cooling cost by up to 10 percent.
• Use ceiling fans to help circulate
the cool air and make you feel
cooler when you are in a room.
In the summer the blades should
rotate to move the air down to
help produce a cooling breeze. In
the winter, air should be moved
upwards towards the ceiling to
disperse the warm air that tends
to accumulate there and distribute
more evenly in the room.
• If you replace your refrigerator
with an energy efficient one,
properly dispose of the old one
instead of continuing to use it as
a secondary refrigerator. If you
do use the old one, avoid keeping
it on in the garage or other
locations that get hot and humid.
The refrigerator has to work
harder in these areas to keep cool.
• Use an outdoor clothesline to dry
items instead of your dryer. It will
save you money and make your
clothes smell great.
How do I know what my household demand is?
The demand for a typical
residential service ranges from 5
to 10 kW (higher if you are an
all-electric home). The cooperative
staff can provide you with your own
historical demand. This will give you
an idea on how you use electricity
during the month.
What is the demand for my electrical appliances?
The following are some typical
demand figures for common
electrical appliances. Remember,
1,000 watts equals 1 kilowatt.
Hot tub ................ 4,000 - 6,000 W
Dryer ................... 4,000 - 5,000 W
Oven ................................. 4,500 W
Water Heater .................... 4,500 W
Air Conditioner (2.5 tons) .. 3,500 W
Engine block
heater ............... 1,000 - 1,500 W
Space Heater .......... 750 - 1,500 W
Range .................. 1,300 - 2,500 W
Broiler.................. 1,000 - 2,500 W
Swimming pool
pump ................. 1,500 - 2,000 W
Deep fryer......................... 1,500 W
Microwave Oven ...... 600 - 1,500 W
Roaster ............................. 1,400 W
Hot plate .......................... 1,200 W
Dishwasher ....................... 1,200 W
Fry pan ............................. 1,200 W
Waffle iron ........................ 1,200 W
Coffee maker ........... 900 - 1,200 W
Toaster ..................... 800 - 1,200 W
Hand iron ......................... 1,000 W
Hair blow dryer ................ 1,000 W
Air conditioner
(window) ............ 1000 - 1,500 W
Washing machine ................ 500 W
Television (Plasma) ............. 300 W
We hope this helps you
understand the different
components of your electric bill,
how your cooperative is billed, and
gives you a better understanding
of demand and ways to reduce it.
Please contact our office at 877783-8765 if you have any questions.
Next month look for an article on
how distributive generation (solar,
wind, etc.) affects the peak demand
on our system.
ILLINOIS COUNTRY LIVING | JUNE 2016
16C
Throughout Rowena’s reign, technology advanced as it often does
- from the enormity of billing every
member each month by hand to the
daunting task of computed technology. The billing and accounting system was excellent due to Rowena’s
emphasis on accuracy and precision.
As a gesture of the board’s appreciation of Rowena’s invaluable
knowledge and years of dedication,
the board voted to pay their final
loan off early on Rowena’s birthday
in 1988.
Rowena’s leadership and knowledge had a tremendous impact
at Norris Electric both with the
employees and members. Many
employees remember Rowena as
industrious, ambitious and conscientious with attention to detail. Norris
Electric Cooperative wishes Rowena
a very Happy 100th Birthday!
Norris Electric would like to recognize Rowena Huston’s birthday
on June 17. Rowena will be 100 yrs.
old and most definitely deserves
recognition.
Ms. Rowena was one of the first
employees of Norris Electric. She
was hired on November 12, 1938 as a
stenographer-bookkeeper by Project
Superintendent Russell Harrison and
would go on to a 50-year career with
the Cooperative. She later became
the Office Manager and retired as
Assistant Manager in 1989.
Ms. Rowena would see many
changes at Norris Electric during
her employment. The very first office
was located in the Marshall Hotel
building, with the cooperative’s
offices taking up two rooms on the
ground floor of the building. They
had borrowed tables, an old counter
and a typewriter…that was it. She
was assigned to do the typing and
often would assist with the job
of mapping the lines as solicitors
brought in membership applications
and fees.
In 1940, the co-op grew quickly
and needed more space so the office
was moved east two blocks to the
former Kralis Poultry building off
the southeast corner of the square. At
that time, the co-op purchased some
desks and chairs, typewriters and
adding machines. In 1944 the co-op
again outgrew their space and moved
to the North side of the square to the
Raymond Heinz building. In 1953
the co-op moved its headquarters
one last time to the current site on
the south edge of Newton.
Ms. Hutson remembered how
rapidly the growth came during the
‘40s. By 1953 Norris had more than
11,000 members. The co-op added
5,197 new services from 1949 to
1953 and had 52 employees. It had
become a big job just to keep up
with everything.
If you would like to wish
Rowena a Happy 100th Birthday,
please send a card to: Ms. Rowena
Hutson, 101 S. Gregory Dr., Apt.
39, Newton, IL 62448.
Norris Electric Cooperative • 8543 N. State Highway 130 • Newton, Illinois 62448 • 877-783-8765
Office hours: Monday — Thursday 7:00 a.m. — 5:00 p.m
16D
ILLINOIS COUNTRY LIVING | WWW.ICL.COOP