Evergy rolling out new time-based plans for Missouri residents

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - Starting in October, Evergy’s current rate plans for residential Missouri customers will be phased out and replaced with time-based rates.

Essentially, this means that instead of being charged only for how much energy is used, customers will be charged more or less money per kilowatt depending on what time of the day they use the energy.

There are four plans to choose from-- the “Standard Peak Saver,” “Peak Reward Saver,” “Nights and Weekends Saver” and “Nights and Weekends Max Saver.”

Although each plan is different, the most important similarity across all four of them is that using energy during the “Peak Time” of 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. will (sometimes) cost more.

Standard Peak Saver:

(Customers who do not choose a plan before October will be enrolled in this plan by default)

• Peak Time: 4-8 p.m. on weekdays during June-September
• What does this mean? If a Standard Peak Saver customer runs a major appliance, such as a dishwasher or air conditioner, at 5:30 p.m. on a Tuesday in July, it will cost more than if they ran that same appliance at 3:30 p.m. (not during Peak Time), on a Saturday (not a weekday), or in December (not a summer month)

Peak Reward Saver:

• Peak Time: 4-8 p.m. during June-September (1 cent increase) and October-May (¼ cent increase)
• Off-Peak Time: Midnight – 6 a.m. every day (there is always a 1 cent Off-Peak discount/credit regardless of season)
• What does this mean? If a Peak Reward Saver customer runs a major appliance, such as a dishwasher or air conditioner, at 5:30 p.m. in July, it will cost more than if they ran that same appliance at 3:30 p.m. (not during a Peak Time), at 5:30 a.m. (during the Off-Peak Time), or in December (winter months are only a ¼ cent Peak-Time increase instead of a 1 cent increase).
• What makes this plan different than the default Standard Peak Saver? For this plan, weekdays and weekends do not matter. The most important thing to do is to ensure that energy usage during Peak Time in the summer is minimized because that will be the most expensive. And, unlike the Standard plan, customers have a much cheaper rate between midnight and 6 a.m. which, if utilized, will save money.

Nights and Weekends Saver:

• Peak Time: 4-8 p.m. on weekdays
• Off-Peak Time: Midnight – 6 a.m. every day
• What does this mean? If a Nights and Weekends Saver customer runs a major appliance, such as a dishwasher or air conditioner, at 5:30 p.m. on a Tuesday, it will cost more than if they ran that same appliance at 3:30 p.m. (not during a Peak Time) or on a Saturday (not a weekday).
• What makes this plan different than the default Standard Peak Saver? For this plan, summer and winter do not matter. Again, the most important thing is to avoid using energy during Peak Times and to try to run major appliances during the Off-Peak Time when rates are cheaper. And, unlike the Standard plan, customers have a much cheaper rate between midnight and 6 a.m. which, if utilized, will save money.

Nights and Weekends Max Saver:

• Peak Time: 4-8 p.m. on weekdays
• Off-peak time: Midnight – 6 a.m. every day in the summer
• What does this mean? If a Nights and Weekends Max Saver customer runs a major appliance, such as a dishwasher or air conditioner, at 5:30 p.m. on a Tuesday in July, it will cost more than if they ran that same appliance at 3:30 p.m. (not during a Peak Time), or at 5:30 a.m. (during the Off-Peak time).
• What makes this plan different than the default Standard Peak Saver? For this plan, rates are affected by the time of day, the season and what time of the week it is. Peak times only exist on weekdays, and rates are cheaper if a customer uses more power in the winter no matter what time it is. The most important thing to do, like the other plans, is to avoid excessive usage during Peak Times. Customers who choose this plan may want to run major appliances on the weekends when there are no Peak Time rates. This plan has been specifically marketed by Evergy as the ideal plan for electric vehicle owners.

The specific price points of each plan can be found on Evergy’s website, as well as additional details that may impact which plan a customer chooses.

Evergy officials told KCTV5 that the best way for a customer to find out which plan is best for them is to use two tools: the Rate Simulator and the Rate Analysis Tool.

The Rate Analysis Tool is accessible after logging into one’s Evergy MyAccount portal. The tool allows customers to compare plans based on their power usage during certain seasons and times.

The Rate Simulator identifies changes a customer can make to their usage — such as using an appliance at a different time than they normally would — to save more money in each time-based rate.

In August, Evergy will send every customer a printed Rate Education Report in the mail. The report will take each customer’s usage data from the previous year and estimate how much each of the four time-based plans would have cost them.

Evergy said the purpose of this transition is to encourage customers to use electricity during times of the day when power is cheaper and the demand is lower, alleviating additional strain on the electric grid. The change was pushed by the Missouri Public Commission, who advocated for time-based rates because of changing weather patterns, the addition of more renewable energy sources and to decrease the cost of maintenance while boosting the reliability of the power grid.

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