Second meter for home charging?

Woeo

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On top of that I have normal residential service from PSE&G in NJ which carries an $.185 to $.195 /kWh rate depending on time of year and how much power you use (over 600 kWh in summer the rate goes up). PSE&G does offer time of use billing, but I work from home 2 days a week and my menopausal wife only works part time - so I don't think I could get away with letting the house warm up to 80 degrees by 8PM when the rate drops from $.27 to $.12.
I am not sure if readers picked up on the nuance of your comment. Seems like your power company, like mine, raises your daytime rate in exchange for giving you a low over night rate. That works out for a lower bill if you can lower energy use during the day and push most of it over nite, but that is not easily done if you work from home or are retired. Charging the car 12k miles per year/1k miles per month should be about 300 kw/h per month. ”Saving“ 6 cents per kw/h on one hand but paying 50% higher during the day for your AC, lights & everything else that spins the meter did not make sense for us.
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I am not sure if readers picked up on the nuance of your comment. Seems like your power company, like mine, raises your daytime rate in exchange for giving you a low over night rate. That works out for a lower bill if you can lower energy use during the day and push most of it over nite, but that is not easily done if you work from home or are retired.
Exactly, that's why it only makes sense for me if I can have a separate dedicated BEV meter.

Charging the car 12k miles per year/1k miles per month should be about 300 kw/h per month. ”Saving“ 6 cents per kw/h on one hand but paying 50% higher during the day for your AC, lights & everything else that spins the meter did not make sense for us.
Right again. Although, averaging my charging year round I came up with a little over 500kwh for the car, it still would make no sense to convert my main meter.

An alternative I don't necessarily like is going to an alternate electricity supplier. There are a few I can choose from that offer free weekend BEV charging or other discounts for BEV charging as long as I specifically have a chargepoint smart charger. I looked into those months ago, and the reviews/complaints filed with the BBB left me with a bad taste in my mouth.
 

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You don't really need a smart charger unless you want to track the car's power consumption apart from the company the meter belongs to.

The Mach-E will be smart enough to charge when you tell it too (a pretty much standard feature on EVs these days).
 
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You don't really need a smart charger unless you want to track the car's power consumption apart from the company the meter belongs to.

The Mach-E will be smart enough to charge when you tell it too (a pretty much standard feature on EVs these days).
You do if you want to take advantage of free weekend BEV charging with Clearview Energy's "clear charge 12 EV" program. The charger tracks exactly when you charge the car, since you only get 250 kwh free per month from 7pm fri to 7am mon
 

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You do if you want to take advantage of free weekend BEV charging with Clearview Energy's "clear charge 12 EV" program. The charger tracks exactly when you charge the car, since you only get 250 kwh free per month from 7pm fri to 7am mon
Interesting: Do you have to use their EVSE? Does it automatically report back to them? Or do you simply submit the data and they trust you (I can't see that working at all ! LOL).

(Besides I did mention "unless you want to track the car's power consumption".)
 


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Interesting: Do you have to use their EVSE? Does it automatically report back to them? Or do you simply submit the data and they trust you (I can't see that working at all ! LOL).

(Besides I did mention "unless you want to track the car's power consumption".)
Hmm, good question. Clearview does offer a rebate on one, but I don't think you have to buy it from them. My guess is that they have a deal with chargepoint, so clearview gets a data dump and credits your account accordingly. It sounds like a great deal, but based on some of the complaints I'm not sure how reliable getting the kwh credits is - IIRC they claimed the credit was issued in the following billing cycle. You have to sign a 1 year contract with them to get it also, so they have no incentive to "get it right" in any kind of timely manner.

In my research I saw another energy supplier with a similar deal that also required a chargepoint EVSE, but they didn't seem to be much better than clearview. It seems most of them are scheisters.
 
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OK, so I contacted PSE&G through their website figuring if I wrote down my question there would be less chance of confusion talking to someone, and that the question would be redirected to someone who could actually answer it:

Does PSE&G have any programs for Electric car owners? I intend to get an electric car within the next year, and was hoping programs were available to allow me to charge my car more cheaply off-peak at night WITHOUT changing my billing from normal residential service (RS) to time-of-use billing (RLS). Would it be possible for me to add a second meter/service panel just for my electric car charger that has time of use billing (RLS), while keeping my main service as normal residential service billing (RS)? If so, what expenses would be involved in adding a second meter, other than my needing an electrician to install the second panel and electric car charging circuit? What is the added monthly expense involved in having a second meter/service?
I got the following reply within 15 minutes:
Thanks for contacting us in response to adding another meter you would need to get in touch with our Construction Inquiry department at 1 800 722 0256. They can answer any question regarding a new meter installations. There hours of operations is 7:30 am to 3 pm. Have a safe day!
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Update for posterity, if anyone is ever interested: Got a hold of a CSR who wasn't sure, passed to a supervisor who did know. Apparently you can get a second meter easily, but in order for it to be billed at a different service level than the original meter (ie 1 "residential service" and the other time-of-use), it has to be a commercial billing which is apparently prohibitively expensive. PSE&G's time-of-use billing is ridiculous, with peak being 7Am to 9PM. They have ZERO programs for EV owners, and have no apparent interest in changing that.

So, looks like I'll give Clearview or some other alternative electricity supplier my business.
 

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I'm wondering if anyone else has a second meter with time-of-use billing for their EV? I have 200 amp service, but the Mrs has been bugging me for years to put in a hot tub, which typically requires a 50 Amp 240 volt circuit. I've already got dual air conditioners on 40 amp circuits, as well as a 50 amp line running to our double oven. Adding another 40 amp breaker for a BEV just feels like I would be pushing it. On top of that I have normal residential service from PSE&G in NJ which carries an $.185 to $.195 /kWh rate depending on time of year and how much power you use (over 600 kWh in summer the rate goes up). PSE&G does offer time of use billing, but I work from home 2 days a week and my menopausal wife only works part time - so I don't think I could get away with letting the house warm up to 80 degrees by 8PM when the rate drops from $.27 to $.12.

It feels like the best option not to overload my existing service AND to get the cheapest EV charging is to add a second TOU meter just for EV charging (hope to talk the wife into getting rid of her Durango too). Anybody do this, or even know if PSE&G will do it? PSE&G's website is useless, and from what I've read on other fora just getting them to replace the regular meter with one that supports TOU billing is an exercise in futility. Trying to add a second meter with different billing might be impossible.
My Tesla PowerWall app handles TOU charging and discharging of the PowerWall, I just program the peak and non-peak hours based on the utility web site, the app does the rest. Also, my L2 charger also knows the peak/non-peak times and charges my ev at night between 10 pm and 8 am, even reminds me at 10pm if I have not plugged in yet. I do not have to program the car charging at all. Juicenet and Tesla have it covered. No additional meters. If you total all the amps of the breakers at my house, they are over 400A on my 200A service, I have a few 50A and 100A sub panels. If I ever go over the 200A rating of the main breaker, it will trip and the Tesla app will notify me by text. I have watched my utility meter, and have never gone over about 150A with both A/C units running, typical high load is less than 120A. My pool pump runs at night also. I do not operate my electric oven on a hot day with A/C running. Gas/solar water heater. And, I have replaced all my lighting with LED. Keep in mind that the A/C breakers are more for startup than for steady state running of the compressors. There are also ways to ramp up your A/C instead of having a very short high demand pulse. I am not an electrical engineer, but it is not hard to learn this stuff. 2 electricians over the years recommended I add another 200A service, but I have never seen the need. I monitor everything on my phone whenever I want to. Fun for me.
 
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My Tesla PowerWall app handles TOU charging and discharging of the PowerWall, I just program the peak and non-peak hours based on the utility web site, the app does the rest. Also, my L2 charger also knows the peak/non-peak times and charges my ev at night between 10 pm and 8 am, even reminds me at 10pm if I have not plugged in yet. I do not have to program the car charging at all. Juicenet and Tesla have it covered. No additional meters. If you total all the amps of the breakers at my house, they are over 400A on my 200A service, I have a few 50A and 100A sub panels. If I ever go over the 200A rating of the main breaker, it will trip and the Tesla app will notify me by text. I have watched my utility meter, and have never gone over about 150A with both A/C units running, typical high load is less than 120A. My pool pump runs at night also. I do not operate my electric oven on a hot day with A/C running. Gas/solar water heater. And, I have replaced all my lighting with LED. Keep in mind that the A/C breakers are more for startup than for steady state running of the compressors. There are also ways to ramp up your A/C instead of having a very short high demand pulse. I am not an electrical engineer, but it is not hard to learn this stuff. 2 electricians over the years recommended I add another 200A service, but I have never seen the need. I monitor everything on my phone whenever I want to. Fun for me.
My issue is financial, not electrical. My utility company (PSE&G) offers EITHER time of use billing or tiered billing. The tiered rate is $.18/kwhr up to 600kwh, and then $.19/kwh over 600kwh for the month. The TOU billing is $.27/kwh from 7AM to 9PM, and $.11/kwh otherwise. I wanted two meters so I could have my air conditioner run when we're home AND charge my car more cheaply overnight.
 

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My issue is financial, not electrical. My utility company (PSE&G) offers EITHER time of use billing or tiered billing. The tiered rate is $.18/kwhr up to 600kwh, and then $.19/kwh over 600kwh for the month. The TOU billing is $.27/kwh from 7AM to 9PM, and $.11/kwh otherwise. I wanted two meters so I could have my air conditioner run when we're home AND charge my car more cheaply overnight.
Yes, I see your point, you presently have high rates all day. In California, they have lowered the daytime cost to encourage more use while the sun shines due to lots of excess solar capacity. Our highest cost rate occurs in the evening hours. That may happen in your state eventually, but you definitely have a challenge now. Good luck!
 
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due to lots of excess solar capacity
We should be so lucky in the garden state. PSE&G only generates 1% from wind/solar, but 40% from nuclear. While nuclear doesn't emit greenhouse gases, I would much prefer living with excess solar capacity than the specter of a nuclear accident.
 

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Solar Panel system, especially with TOU rate system, is financially beneficial for home charging overnight; generate electricity at highest rates and use it at the lowest rates.
I think TOU actually penaizes solar users. We now pay more in CA for times when our solar panels are not providing power - 6 to 9 PM
 

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We should be so lucky in the garden state. PSE&G only generates 1% from wind/solar, but 40% from nuclear. While nuclear doesn't emit greenhouse gases, I would much prefer living with excess solar capacity than the specter of a nuclear accident.
CA allows you to install a different meter. You have to pay though - I wonder how much that would be?
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