Bill Help for Customers Using More Energy at Home During COVID-19

June 29, 2020

Beginning June 1, Southern California Edison will launch a targeted rate reduction that can help residential customers whose households are using a large amount of energy during the COVID-19 emergency.

The High Usage Charge is being reduced through at least Oct. 31. Customers who incur this charge will see it decrease by 30%, and their total bill decreased by an average of 13%, or about $100 on an average High Usage Charge summer bill. The actual total bill reduction for each High Usage Charge customer will vary based on their household monthly usage.

The reduction can help households that are increasing their energy use because more members are at home due to COVID-19-related safety precautions or other impacts.

Demand for electricity among SCE residential customers rose 14% from March 16-April 19 compared to the same time last year. Business customer usage decreased by 18%.

“These are uncertain times, and we want to help our customers who are struggling financially, trying to make ends meet during this global crisis,” said Jill C. Anderson, SCE’s senior vice president of Customer Service. “This reduction of the High Usage Charge will provide relief to tens of thousands of customers this summer.”

Energy Usage Chart
The High Usage Charge is applied to a residential customer bill when usage is greater than 400% of the monthly basic energy needs of a customer’s baseline region. Hotter regions (SCE climate zones 13 and 15, for example) are allocated higher baseline usage. Cooler regions (zones 6 and 8) are allocated lower baseline usage (See “How to Determine Your Allocation For Each Tier”). The High Usage Charge does not apply to customers on a Time-of-Use rate plan.

The High Usage Charge reduction is SCE’s latest bill relief effort launched during the COVID-19 emergency. Last month, SCE accelerated the climate credit typically provided in October and scheduled it sooner, splitting it evenly across two consecutive bill cycles in May-June and June-July.

This credit from a state program will reduce electric bills for all residential customers by about $18.50 during each cycle. This is in addition to the $37 climate credit all residential customers received as planned in April.

The California Public Utilities Commission recently authorized both the High Usage Charge reduction and sped up distribution of the October climate credit for the state’s investor-owned utilities, including SCE.

For more information on SCE’s COVID-19 response and customer programs, visit: sce.com/covid19.