Here's what Residential customers can expect:
- Each summer, participating households will earn four (4) consecutive monthly credits of $10 to their electric account at the end of each summer month (June–September) while enrolled.
- Events consist of a pre-cooling period to make your home more comfortable and a period of time when your energy usage is reduced.
- Events can last up to four hours at a time and typically occur between 3 and 7 p.m.
- Nest will notify enrolled customers a minimum of one hour in advance of each event.
- The program spans four months of summer starting May 21 and ending Sept. 30.
How to Enroll
Why Rush Hour Rewards are important?
Peak Events
As the population continues to grow in the state, more demand is put on the electric grid by Texans throughout the day. By taking steps to conserve electricity during system peaks each summer, we can all help reduce our transmission costs and keep reserves steady throughout the year.
What is peak demand?
Peak demand is when demand for electricity is at its highest during the day. During the summer, this typically happens on extremely hot days between the hours of 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. because air conditioners are working harder to keep up and customers are coming home, cooking dinner and using electronics.
Why does this affect me?
CoServ’s cost to buy wholesale electricity varies extensively based on how much demand there is on the larger Electric Reliability Council of Texas grid. The increased cost to buy power during peak times plays a large role in what your electricity costs will be in the future. CoServ accounts for wholesale electricity cost by adjusting the PCRF or Power Cost Recovery Factor.
When Members reduce overall electricity usage during peak times, CoServ doesn’t have to purchase as much high-priced electricity, which reduces CoServ’s wholesale power costs and, ultimately, reduces future energy costs for Members.
So, while doing the laundry at 5 p.m. won’t be any different on an individual Members’ next bill compared to doing it overnight, long-term, this affects the PCRF on future bills for all CoServ Members.
When should I adjust my habits?
Usually, peak demand happens between the hours of 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. during the summer months (May – September).
How can I help?
We encourage our Members to conserve electricity where possible to save energy, and money, on their bills. Waiting to do laundry until before or after peak hours, adjusting your thermostat a up few degrees can make a big difference on the overall demand on the Texas grid. We’ve also compiled a list of Energy Efficiency Tips to help with this as well.
Want to get paid to save? For Members with Nest Thermostats, CoServ offers Rush Hour Rewards where Members can earn $10 bill credits each month during the summer, just for allowing their thermostat to be raised a few degrees during peak demand events.
This is an annual program, meaning that every year that you participate your savings continue to stack up!
Understanding Cooling and Heating Degree Days
Weather is the biggest factor affecting electric bills.
The hotter it is, the more energy it takes to cool a building. Conversely, the colder it is, the more energy it takes to warm the space.
But how do you measure that?
Utilities and the government use a metric called Cooling Degree Days (CDD) and Heating Degree Days (HDD) to measure how weather affects electricity usage. This allows an apples-to-apples comparison of one day, week, month or season compared to another.
This same calculation could help CoServ Members and Customers understand why their own usage might be higher for a particular billing period, especially during the hottest summer months or coldest winter months.
For example, you receive a high electric bill after the first month of summer so you adjust your habits, raise the thermostat and keep a closer eye on your daily Smarthub usage alerts to cut back on costs. Then, despite your efforts, your usage is even higher on your next bill.
That means the average daily temperature was hotter than the previous month, which means the Cooling Degree Days would be higher.
It starts with the baseline temperature of 65 degrees outside, using the assumption that homes won’t need air conditioning or heating at that temperature.
The higher or lower the temperature is from 65 degrees, the harder your air conditioning or heater will have to work to maintain the temperature in the home.
The first step is to find the average temperature for the day. If the value is above 65 degrees, you will subtract 65 from it to find the CDD.
For example, if the average temperature is 95 degrees:
95–65= 30 Cooling Degree Days
If the average is below 65 degrees, you will subtract the number from 65 to find the HDD.
For example, if the average temperature is 45 degrees:
65–45= 20 Heating Degree Days
Then, to find the total number of CDD or HDD for a set period of time, you can add the Cooling or Heating Degree Days together for each and you can start to get a picture for why usage is so high for a certain period.
For example, July 2022 was an especially hot month with a total of 838 Cooling Degree Days in Dallas-Fort Worth. That’s the second highest Cooling Degree Days total for a month ever recorded behind August 2011, according to the North Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Looking at Heating Degree Days, if you go back to February 2021 when Winter Storm Uri descended on Texas, the Heating Degree Days totaled 660. Compare that to the same period in 2022 when the Heating Degree Days totaled 526 and you’ll see why electricity or natural gas (depending on the type of heater you have) would be higher.
How do I unenroll from Rush Hour Rewards?
To unenroll, please email [email protected] or call 940-321-7800.