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Since its inception in 2004, the IWDD has participated in a cost- and energy-savings program called Time-of-Use™ (TOU) offered by Salt River Project (SRP).
“We use TOU for one simple reason: to save our clients money without having to compromise quality. It’s the same reason CCMC, a company that serves some of the nation’s most successful master-planned communities, was hired to manage the IWDD. Quite simply, it makes good business sense to align our organization with programs that promote similar results,” Nau explains.
Nau recently learned that the IWDD did such a stellar job conserving energy that it became one of SRP’s top savers in its industry for 2011 by simply choosing to participate in the SRP TOU program. The IWDD reduced energy costs by more than 15%. That’s nearly $5,900 in savings — savings that benefit everyone.
“Our largest client is the Spectrum at Val Vista Community Association, which encompasses 1,156 acres,” Nau explains. “By watering during off-peak hours and using the Maxicom irrigation control system to promote water conservation, the association is currently under budget by $17,168 in water costs. Not only is that responsible, it’s just plain smart.”
SRP’s business TOU Price Plan is an optional, three-period time-of-use plan. It has on-peak, shoulder and off-peak pricing periods and is designed for businesses with electricity demand ranging from 5–1,500 kilowatts that are able to take advantage of the lower prices in the shoulder and off-peak periods.
The TOU program can help many companies or families in need of trimming costs if they can manage electric usage, just as Spectrum IWDD did.
“The key to saving money on TOU is to limit usage during higher-priced on-peak hours and shift to lower-priced off-peak and shoulder hours,” explains Debbie Kimberly, SRP’s director of customer programs and marketing. “The good news is that 85 percent of hours in the summer and 88 percent of the hours in the winter are lower-priced off-peak or shoulder hours.”
Typically, businesses that can save the most:
- Are open Monday–Friday (8 a.m.–5 p.m.)
- Are open earlier in the summer
- Are open later in the winter (after 9 a.m.)
- Are open weekends
Can avoid high electricity demands during peak usage hours (summer 2–7 p.m. and winter 5–9 a.m.)
Can move operations or production schedules away from the first shift or start the first shift earlier in the day
“Energy management is extremely important to our clients,” CCMC CEO Bart Park explains. “It’s our job to educate them on all the programs and technologies that will help them save valuable natural resources and association dollars. Time-of-Use is one of these programs. Make no mistake: In this case, time really is money.”
To learn more about saving money and energy through price plans, visit savewithsrpbiz.com/prices or call (602) 236-8833.
SRP is the largest provider of electricity to the greater Phoenix area, serving nearly 950,000 electric customers.
