Republish
Southern California Edison’s time-of-use plan
We love that you want to share our stories with your readers. Hundreds of publications republish our work on a regular basis.
All of the articles at CalMatters are available to republish for free, under the following conditions:
-
- Give prominent credit to our journalists: Credit our authors at the top of the article and any other byline areas of your publication. In the byline, we prefer “By Author Name, CalMatters.” If you’re republishing guest commentary (example) from CalMatters, in the byline, use “By Author Name, Special for CalMatters.”
-
- Credit CalMatters at the top of the story: At the top of the story’s text, include this copy: “This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters.” If you are republishing commentary, include this copy instead: “This commentary was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters.” If you’re republishing in print, omit the second sentence on newsletter signups.
-
- Do not edit the article, including the headline, except to reflect relative changes in time, location and editorial style. For example, “yesterday” can be changed to “last week,” and “Alameda County” to “Alameda County, California” or “here.”
-
- If you add reporting that would help localize the article, include this copy in your story: “Additional reporting by [Your Publication]” and let us know at republish@calmatters.org.
-
- If you wish to translate the article, please contact us for approval at republish@calmatters.org.
-
- Photos and illustrations by CalMatters staff or shown as “for CalMatters” may only be republished alongside the stories in which they originally appeared. For any other uses, please contact us for approval at visuals@calmatters.org.
-
- Photos and illustrations from wire services like the Associated Press, Reuters, iStock are not free to republish.
-
- Do not sell our stories, and do not sell ads specifically against our stories. Feel free, however, to publish it on a page surrounded by ads you’ve already sold.
-
- Sharing a CalMatters story on social media? Please mention @CalMatters. We’re on X, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and BlueSky.
If you’d like to regularly republish our stories, we have some other options available. Contact us at republish@calmatters.org if you’re interested.
Have other questions or special requests? Or do you have a great story to share about the impact of one of our stories on your audience? We’d love to hear from you. Contact us at republish@calmatters.org.
Southern California Edison’s time-of-use plan
Share this:
Ron Nichols, Southern California Edison president, Rosemead
In his March 5 guest commentary, Brett Bouchy delivers several mischaracterizations about Southern California Edison’s time-of-use rates. In truth, SCE’s time-of-use rates incentivize customers to use power when it is cleanest and available at the best prices, and conserve energy when it is less clean and more expensive.
Mr. Bouchy’s claim that the new on-peak time-of-use period is driven by “pursuit of short-term profit” is false, since California’s investor-owned utilities, Southern California Edison, Pacific Gas & Electric and San Diego Gas & Electric do not profit from purchasing energy on behalf of customers. It is passed through with no mark-up.
SCE designed its time-of-use rates to more closely align with the actual cost of delivering electric service. California now enjoys an abundance of cleaner, less expensive renewable energy during the hours of 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. – so plentiful that the California Independent System Operator too often must pay other states, also known as negative pricing, to import California’s excess energy from renewable sources at those times. SCE’s time-of-use rates reward customers who tap into that abundance by passing along the lower midday cost of electric service, thus encouraging greater use of renewable energy here in California.
The new 4–9 p.m. on-peak time-of-use hours reflect the time of day when delivering energy is costliest. This is due to sustained high customer demand combined with decreasing renewable production, requiring the ramp-up of traditional power plants.
SCE is committed to solar energy. SCE has successfully worked with solar representatives such as the Solar Energy Industry Association and the California Solar and Storage Association on mutually agreeable rates to meet California’s environmental objectives. Renewables like solar energy play a crucial role in de-carbonizing the electric sector, one of our company’s key long-term objectives. SCE has connected more than 300,000 residential solar customers to the grid, and the numbers have kept growing under the state-mandated time-of-use rate structure adopted by the California Public Utilities Commission.