About Time-of-use Processing

A type of rate used at many utilities is known as a "time of use" rate. For these rates, the price is based on when the usage occurs. For example, prices are typically higher during peak consumption periods (commonly referred to as "On Peak" periods) to encourage lower use during these times. The time range when a given price is applicable is known as a time-of-use (TOU) period.

Time of use periods can (and often do) change during the year. For example, in the summer, TOU periods might be defined as follows:

While winter TOU periods might be defined as follows:

This is an example of a "simple" mass-market time-of-use schedule. Commercial and industrial schedules can be much more complex.

Generally speaking, there are two different types of meters that can be installed at service points that participate in TOU rates:

Scalar meters with dedicated registers for each TOU period. For this type of meter, the scalar measurements are the TOU consumption and no special derivation is necessary. The assumption is that the TOU schedule is programmed into the device and no TOU Map is required within Oracle Utilities Meter Data Management.

Interval meters that measure how much is consumed each interval. For this type of meter, the interval measurements are used to derive the consumption in each TOU period based on the TOU Map defined in Oracle Utilities Meter Data Management.

For information on configuration, reference the related section for TOU Mapping in the Administration Guide.