The second element of Energy Select is the Residential Service Variable Pricing, or RSVP, rate. It features four different prices based upon the time of day, day of week and season. The prices reflect the actual cost of producing electricity during those periods. Two of the prices (low and medium) are lower than the standard residential rate you are probably paying now.
With the Energy Select thermostat, you can save money by programming the largest portion of your energy purchases to occur in these two price periods. The low and medium price periods account for 87 percent of the total number of hours in a year. That means with Energy Select, the price you pay for electricity is lower than the standard rate 87 percent of the time. Learn more about the RSVP rate.
The other two prices (high and critical) are higher than the standard rate to reflect the increased cost of providing electricity during peak times. However, the high price is in effect only 12 percent of the time and the critical price period will never exceed 1 percent of the time, but may be much lower.
With the programmable thermostat, you can program your central heating and cooling, electric water heater and pool to run more in the lower price periods and less, or not at all, in the higher price periods. It's always your choice, and you are always in control. The thermostat even provides an override feature that allows you to temporarily change your immediate settings without modifying your program. So you always have the flexibility to use your appliances whenever and however you wish.
The low, medium and high price periods are set. You will always know when they are and can program your thermostat accordingly. The critical price period is not set and is determined by Gulf Power as needed. However, you can even plan for this price event by programming your thermostat to respond accordingly if and when the critical price signal is sent. You never have to be home to respond to any price. Once you program the thermostat, it does the work for you.
There are two seasons of price periods in the Energy Select program — a summer season and a winter season.
The summer season is from May through October. In the summer season, the low and medium price periods are in effect all hours of the day Monday through Friday except from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m., which is when the high price is in effect. On weekends and holidays, the price is low and medium 100 percent of the time!
The winter season is from November through April. In the winter season, the low and medium price periods are in effect all hours of the day Monday through Friday except from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m., which is when the high price is in effect. On weekends and holidays, the price is low and medium 100 percent of the time!
Critical price events are not predetermined and will only go into effect when the demand for electricity is extremely high. Typically, this will be on the hottest summer afternoons and the coldest winter mornings.
