UOM versus TOU versus SQI

Almost all rates contain prices in respect of some number of something. This something could be anything from a therm of gas to a kilowatt-hour of electricity. We use three distinct codes to identify the "thing" being priced in a rate. These codes are UOM (unit of measure), TOU (time of use), and SQI (service quantity identifier). These codes must be set up before you can create a rate schedule.

You don't have to use all three codes when you specify a price in a rate. Rather, you use the codes that are needed to clearly identify the thing being priced. We'll use a few examples to clarify this concept.

Let's consider a rate that simply has a price per therm. For this rate, you'd only use a UOM code to identify the thing being priced (and this code should be something simple like THRM).

Next, let's consider a rate that has a different price for kilowatts consumed during peak hours as compared to those used during off-peak hours. You would use a combination of UOM and TOU to define the thing being priced. In this example, we'd recommend using a single UOM for kilowatt-hours (labeled kWh ) and two TOU codes - one for the peak period (labeled PEAK ) and the other for the off-peak period (labeled OFFPEAK).

And finally, let's consider a rate that has a charge for "annual highest kW (demand) during peak hours". This is a very complicated thing to price. You have several options in respect of the combination of UOM, TOU, SQI to use to express this unit. The following table contains every conceivable combination to express this single thing: