Own an EV? Here’s Why an SBSS Makes Ontario’s ULO Plan Work Better
Electric vehicles make Ontario’s Ultra-Low Overnight electricity plan attractive for one obvious reason: drivers can charge from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m., when the current ULO electricity price is 3.9 cents per kilowatt-hour. The trade-off is a weekday on-peak price of 39.1 cents per kilowatt-hour from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m.
For an EV owner, the problem is not usually the car. Most vehicles can be scheduled to charge overnight.
The problem is the house.
The expensive 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. period overlaps with cooking, air conditioning, laundry, lighting, entertainment and other everyday household loads. A homeowner may save money charging the EV overnight but give part of that savings back by buying the home’s electricity at roughly 40 cents per kilowatt-hour during the evening.
The Smarter Power Smart Battery Storage System helps separate those two decisions. The EV can charge overnight at the ultra-low price, while the SBSS also stores low-cost electricity. When the weekday peak period begins, the battery can support the home and reduce expensive grid consumption.
Here is a simple EV example. Charging 50 kWh per week at 3.9 cents costs approximately $1.95 for the electricity commodity. The same 50 kWh used during the 39.1-cent peak period would cost about $19.55.
That is a difference of $17.60 per week, or roughly $915 per year, before delivery charges, charging losses, taxes and other bill items. Actual EV consumption and savings will vary by vehicle, driving distance and charging efficiency.
Now add the home battery. Rather than asking the family to avoid cooking or cooling the house between 4 p.m. and 9 p.m., the SBSS can automatically discharge according to a programmed schedule. That is what makes the ULO plan practical instead of restrictive.
The design still matters. Simultaneously charging an EV and a battery can create a substantial overnight load, so Smarter Power reviews the home’s electrical service, charger size, battery charge rate and other major appliances before setting the schedule. The system can also maintain a backup reserve so every dollar of rate savings does not come at the expense of outage protection.
EV ownership, battery storage and rooftop solar work especially well as one plan. Solar can help replenish the SBSS during the day, the battery can cover the evening peak, and the EV can charge overnight.
Use the OEB residential electricity calculator and Smarter Power’s Residential Savings Calculator before changing plans. For many Ontario EV households, the best value is not simply cheap overnight charging. It is using an SBSS so the entire home can benefit from ULO pricing without paying the full daytime penalty.
