Aiken Electric Cooperative, Inc.

Your cooperative and its power suppliers continually
monitor the demand for energy. Using weather forecasts and historical energy use data, they predict when peak demand for electricity will occur.
In advance of that time, participating members can be notified by:
• Email
• Text message
• Voice message
Certain actions can be taken during Beat the Peak notification periods. Those actions could include:
• Adjusting thermostats by 3 degrees
• Turning off lights
• Delaying the use of major appliances such as dishwashers, washing machines and clothes dryers until after the predicted peak demand period has passed
• Postponing hot water use, which will delay the activation of electric water heaters

Higher demand for electricity causes utilities to use more expensive fuels.
Utilities use their most efficient and least costly generators first. Then, as electricity demand increases, utilities turn on generators that are less efficient or that use more expensive fuels. That’s why higher electricity use can mean higher costs for your cooperative.
The demand for electricity is greatest between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m. in winter months. In the summer, peak electricity demand occurs between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m.

By joining the Beat the Peak program, members are teaming up with the co-op to save on power costs for everyone.

Electricity costs only pennies per kilowatt hour, but the cost during off-peak hours of the day drops to about half that of on-peak costs — a dramatic difference. And, those higher costs must be passed on to members.

By lowering total energy use when it is most expensive, the co-op can lower total power costs.Because electric cooperatives are not-for-profit companies, the savings can be passed on to members.

No. The savings come from improvement in the system’s peak demand, but those savings are real. Since it costs more to generate electricity during peak-use times of the day, it truly helps when we work together to reduce electricity use on winter mornings and summer afternoons.