There are pricing options Market-based pricing aims at getting you to think twice before you use power during those expensive peaks. Georgia Power goes further - raising your summer price as you use energy more. In the winter, your rate for extra kilowatt-hours declines. In California, that could reduce energy costs by 12 percent over the summer. Here, the utility varies your price per kilowatt-hour during the day, as its own prices change.
Many businesses already pay on real-time.
How consumers adapt is key How consumers like real-time pricing remains to be seen. Georgia Power tried it 12 years ago and dropped it. But Gulf Power rolled out newer technology last year and thinks it has a hit. She says that customers are saving 15 percent, which more than covers their participation cost. Puget Sound Energy in Bellevue, Wash., has enrolled more than 420,000 customers in a smart-meter program.