The peak demand is the maximum amount of electricity used at any one time.
Total usage is measured in kilowatt hours.
His restaurant, he said, uses about 46,000 kilowatt hours per month. Van Herik said the restaurant's next electric bill could be capped if conservation measures took effect in the fall. Southern California Edison Co., the state's largest utility company, uses a different standard to calculate its rates, company spokesman Steve Hansen said. Edison charges a different delivery rate for users with a peak demand of more than 20 kilowatts, Hansen said. Customers who qualify for the utilities rate cap have the portion of their bill above the cap paid by a state loan, although they must eventually repay the loan with interest.