Peak Savers Rate

The key to keeping your peak charge as low as possible is spreading out your usage on Peak Days between 3 and 8 p.m. so you're not drawing a lot of kW at once. See below for some practical tips for lowering usage:

• Cook dinner using a grill or a countertop appliance such as an air fryer, instant pot, or crock pot.
• Load the electric clothes dryer, but wait to run it until after 8 p.m.
• Load the dishwasher, but wait to run it until after 8 p.m.
• Pre-cool your home by running your air conditioner until the peak time starts at 3 p.m.
• If you have an electric water heater, avoid using a lot of hot water between 3 and 8 p.m.
• Avoid running your pool pump from 3 to 8 p.m.
• For those with electric vehicles, wait to charge them until after 8 p.m.

For more information, see our Energy Use Basics page.

For SmartHub Users

• Consumer-members on the Peak Savers rate who are enrolled in our free SmartHub service will receive an email or text notification the afternoon before a forecasted Peak Day advising them that they can save money on their bills by reducing usage from 3 to 8 p.m. the next day
• Consumer-members will receive email notifications by default, but will need to opt into text notifications through SmartHub if desired.

For Consumer-Members Not Enrolled in SmartHub

• Everyone who calls our office on Peak Days will receive an automated message from the phone system informing them that it is a peak day.
• For those who do not want to call in, it is suggested that they control their usage during 3 to 8 p.m. on any summer weekday where temperatures are expected to reach 90º F or higher.

• For each summer month, the peak charge of $2 per kW will be calculated by examining the consumer-member’s hourly usage between 3 and 8 p.m. on Peak Days.
  • Whichever one-hour increment has the highest usage will be used to calculate the peak charge.
  • For example, if a consumer-member’s hour of highest usage is 10 kW from 4 to 5 p.m. on July 29, their peak charge for July would be $20 (10 kW × $2).
  • The average Heartland consumer-member's highest usage during the summer peak is less than 6 kW, so their peak charge would be less than $12.
• Consumer-members can save money on their bills by spreading out their usage between 3 and 8 p.m. on Peak Days and avoiding using too many appliances at the same time.

• Service availability charge: $39
• Energy charge: $0.101510 per kWh
• Peak charge: $2 per kW used during the consumer-member’s monthly peak hour (hour of highest electric usage)
  • Peak charge only occurs in June, July, August, and September
  • Peak hour will only be calculated on Heartland-declared Peak Days
  • Peak hour can only occur between 3 and 8 p.m.
  • Peak Days will never occur on weekends or holidays