What Is the New Time-of-Day Rate Plan?
With the PNM Time-of-Day (TOD) pilot rate plan, you can save money by shifting some of your electricity use to cheaper times of day. It's an easy way to take advantage of the best energy prices while keeping your home comfortable and efficient.
Why Switch to Time-of-Day?
- Lower Your Bill: Pay less for electricity when demand is lower.
- Free Energy Usage Reports: Easily see how much you are saving. Track your hourly usage and have the ability to set up monthly budget alerts.
- 12-Month Bill Guarantee: If you don't save in your first year, we'll credit the difference
How Does Time-of-Day Work?
The cost to produce electricity changes at certain times of the day, just like airline ticket prices or Uber fares. When energy is cheaper for us to producewe pass those savings on to you. TOD gives you access to those cheaper times of day, like weekends, nights, and early mornings, so you can reduce your monthly energy bill. When you shift a few simple activities to these cheaper times of day you could see big savings.
Weekends & Holidays Are Considered Off-Peak
To get the most out of TOD, use devices or appliances that take a lot of electricity on the weekend or on national holidays instead of during the week.
Get Started with the
Time-of-Day Rate
Fill out the quick enrollment form and submit and you're enrolled. You'll just need your account information to get started.
Once enrolled, we will schedule installation of your advanced cellular meter at no cost to you.
Shift your energy usage to Off-Peak hours and watch your bill go down.
The Bill Guarantee
Risk-Free Savings. We get that trying something new can feel uncertain. That's why we back you up. If your bill is higher after 12 consecutive months on TOD, we'll credit you the difference. You have nothing to loseand savings to gain.
How You Benefit from the Time-of-Day Rate Plan
With TOD, you save money by using energy when it costs less.
Energy is cheaper to produce at certain times of dayand we pass those savings back to you through TOD. Not only is energy cheaper to produce but it's often cleaner because we don't have to source energy from "peaker plants"temporary power stations that cost more and are harder on the environment. The bottom line: using more energy at off-peak times keeps your bills more affordable and your air cleaner.
You Could Save Over $400 per year
With the Time-of-Day rate, you can still use your electricity any time you want. To take advantage of the possible savings with TOD, all you have to do is move some (or all if you want even bigger savings) of your use of large appliances like dryers, dishwashers, or AC to Off-Peak times. The choice is yours; the more energy consumption you move to Off-Peak, the more you may save.
Three Easy Ways You Could Save Over $400 a Year with the TOD Rate Plan:
Laundry
Most families dry an average of 7 loads of laundry a week. If you dry your clothes during Off-Peak instead of On-Peak hours, you could save over $190 per year on your bill.
Central Air Conditioner
Using central air in the summer during Off-Peak instead of On-Peak hours could save you over $145 per year on your electric bill.
Dishwashers
The average New Mexican runs their dishwasher 5 times a week. If you ran it during Off-Peak instead of On-Peak hours, you could save over $65 a year on your electric bill.
Easy Ways to Save
Take control of your energy useand your billwith a few simple shifts to when you use electricity. By moving everyday activities like laundry, dishwashing, and cooling your home to lower-cost, Off-Peak hours, you can start saving without changing your routine. Small timing changes may add up to real savings, making it easy to get more value from the energy you use.
Run appliances in the morning or evening
Running high-energy appliances like washers, dryers, and dishwashers during the morning or eveningoutside of peak hourscan help lower your energy costs without sacrificing convenience. By simply adjusting when you use these everyday essentials, you can take advantage of lower electricity rates and make every load more cost-effective.
Pre-cool home before On-Peak hours
Pre-cool your home before peak hours begin to stay comfortable while avoiding higher energy costs. By lowering the temperature in advance, your cooling system doesn¿t have to work as hard during on-peak timeshelping you maintain comfort and save on your energy bill.
Use a Smart Thermostat and take advantage of rebates
A smart thermostat helps you automatically manage your home's temperature to avoid peak-hour energy use while keeping you comfortable. Pair that with available rebates, and you can lower both your upfront costs and your monthly billmaking energy savings easy and efficient.
Turn on pool pumps during Off-Peak hours
Running your pool pump during off-peak hours can significantly lower your energy costs without impacting performance. By shifting this high-energy task to evenings, early mornings, or weekends, you take advantage of lower rates while keeping your pool clean and ready to enjoy.
Frequently Asked Questions
TOD is an opt-in rate plan in which the cost of electricity varies according to the time of day, season, and whether it's a weekday or weekend/holiday. Electricity prices cost more during peak hours and are cheaper during off-peak hours. With TOD, you have more choices: when you shift your energy use to off-peak times, you can save substantially because the rates are less. Shifting your energy use can be simple and easy because the times that prices go up or down are the same every weekday. This also helps PNM use more sustainable energy when we would otherwise have to rely on less environmentally friendly sources of energy.
All PNM customers are eligible for TOD (except customers on rates 6, 20, and 36B).
TOD plans are based on how much energy you use and when you use it. If you can shift some electricity usage to off-peak times when demand is down and energy costs are cheaper, you can support a healthier environment - and likely lower your bill.
At the end of your first twelve consecutive months of participating on the TOD rate plan at the same premise, PNM will calculate what you would have paid under your original rate and what you paid under TOD. If you paid more under TOD, then PNM will credit the difference on your customer bill.
Please note: the Bill Guarantee is only available for the first 12 consecutive months on TOD. Only Residential and Small Power customers will qualify for the Time-of-Day Rate Bill Guarantee. It is only available one time per customer under these conditions.
Off-peak rates apply on New Year's Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day.
- Pre-heat or cool your home during off-peak hours (turn off the heater or air conditioner right before peak hours begin).
- Use a programmable thermostat to help manage your energy usage.
- Use timers to run appliances such as dishwashers, washing machines, and ovens at off-peak times (set timer to start when peak times end).
- Install timers on electricity-consuming appliances such as electric water heaters, indoor and outdoor lighting, water recirculation pumps, and pool and spa pumps.
- Use less hot water by operating washing machines and dishwashers during off-peak hours or on cold water. Turn off all but essential lighting.
Yes, however you do need to be on the TOD rate plan for 12 consecutive months to receive any bill guarantee credits.
Yes, however you cannot participate in both the Time-of-Day rate plan and our Whole House EV program. You will need to choose which program is more beneficial to you.
Yes, a solar customer can participate in TOD. We suggest emailing timeofday@pnm.com for more information on net metering and renewable energy credits.
All residential customers will receive educational emails. Because these emails require several months of data to be able to make usage comparisons and bill projections, they are not available until you have been on TOD for three months. There will be a monthly email that summarizes your energy usage, with additional tips for shifting usage to cheaper off-peak hours.
You will also receive a bill projection email, and can opt into a budget alert email.
The bill projection email/text is sent about halfway through the billing cycle to let you know how much you've spent up to that time, and the projected final cost based on current usage patterns. This includes details on the percentage and amount differences from previous months.
The budget alert email/text is sent if you reach 75% of your selected budget for the month, and lets you know how many days are left in the billing cycle. You must set a budget to receive this email, and can change your budget every month as desired. (There is no budget alert if you don't reach that 75% of your budget.)
The high usage alert email/text is a proactive email to let you know that their day's usage went beyond what their typical consumption patterns would indicate.
You can choose whether or not to receive these notifications via the preferences page.
Because these emails require several months of data to be able to make usage comparisons and bill projections, they are not available until you have been on TOD for 3 months.
You can also sign up by calling customer service at (888) DIAL-PNM (1-888-342-5766). Weekdays, 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.