Hourly Pricing FAQs

Under the hourly pricing program, customers purchase electricity supply at market-based prices that vary from hour to hour. By using the detailed pricing information provided through this program, customers have the opportunity to better manage their electricity use and cost by shifting load to times when prices are lower and reducing electricity use at peak demand times when prices are highest.

Any customer that has a billing demand of 300 kilowatts (kw) or greater during any two months during a 12-month period is subject to hourly pricing beginning January 1, 2010.

NYSEG will send you a confirmation letter notifying you that your account has met the qualification criteria and the date hourly pricing will go into effect for your account.

Natural gas furnaces, boilers and water heaters must be Air Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) or ENERGY STAR approved. To determine if your equipment qualifies,visit the AHRI and ENERGY STAR websites. View our  water heater matrix  to find out which water heaters are eligible for rebates.

There are a few requirements:

• Hourly pricing customers will have a new meter installed by NYSEG. This new meter is capable of recording hourly usage data and downloading this information to NYSEG via NYSEG approved dedicated telecommunications. 
• Customers will be required to install dedicated telecommunications to the meter and pay the associated monthly telecommunications charges. If the dedicated telecommunications are not installed or are not functioning, NYSEG will charge a fee of $78.43 per month to manually download your hourly usage data.
• NYSEG will also install a  demarcation box  if the telecommunications is a telephone line. A connection diagram and instructions can be found on page 24 of the presentation . Please note that it is the customer's responsibility to insure the incoming telephone line is connected to the customer-side of the NYSEG demarcation box.
• Register the new telephone number by filling out the hourly pricing meter telephone line connection form  when the telephone line has been installed.

Hourly pricing customers have two supply choices:

• ESCO Price Option (EPO) – where you purchase your electricity supply from a supplier other than NYSEG (also known as an energy services company or ESCO); NYSEG will provide only delivery service.  The price you pay for electricity supply under this option depends on your agreement with your ESCO.
• Variable Price with the NYSEG Hourly Day-Ahead Market Pricing Option – purchase your electricity from NYSEG at an hourly price based on the day-ahead pricing market.

This depends on your current supply choice:

• If your electricity is supplied by an ESCO prior to the effective date of hourly pricing, your account will be set up on the ESCO Price Option (EPO).
• If your electricity is supplied by NYSEG prior to the effective date of hourly pricing, your account will be set up on the Variable Price with NYSEG Hourly Day-Ahead Market Pricing Option.
• NYSEG will provide sufficient notice of the effective date of hourly pricing for your account so you can make a new supply choice, if you choose.

No, the hourly pricing program does not affect your delivery rates.

Yes, your bill will change as follows:

• Meter reads will no longer be shown on your bill (as part of the transition to hourly pricing this may affect your bill prior to your account being transferred to hourly pricing).
• You may see additional charges for the hourly pricing meter and manual meter read charge if NYSEG is not able to read the meter via the required telephone line.
• If you purchase your electricity supply from NYSEG, you will see a capacity charge on your bill. 
• Hourly usage and prices will not be shown on your bill.  You can access hourly usage (regardless of your supplier) and hourly pricing information (if NYSEG is your supplier) for the billing period via online account access at nyseg.com.

Yes, the following customers are exempt:

• Customers receiving an allocation of energy from the New York Power Authority (NYPA) with an allocation effective date prior to January 1, 2007.
• Customers that have an economic incentive that began prior to January 1, 2007.
• Customers in either of these two categories may be able to take hourly pricing on a voluntary basis for some portion of their electricity use.

No, hourly pricing accounts can not be set up on budget billing for the NYSEG portion of your bill. However, if your electricity is supplied by an ESCO, they may offer budget billing for their charges.