Understanding My Business’s Electric Bill

Schedule 32 is for small non-residential accounts with less than 30 kW of demand. If demand exceeds 30 kW twice in a 13-month period (or once in the first seven months of a new account), the account moves from schedule 32 to schedule 83. It’s often a sign that a business is growing.

You may be eligible to return to schedule 32 billing if your demand has exceeded 30 kW no more than once within the past 13 months.

While increasing power use is often a sign that a business is growing, there are ways to control demand levels. Turn off unnecessary equipment or consider investing in energy efficient lighting, heating and cooling products. Programs are available through the Energy Trust of Oregon to help with financial incentives, and you can request a free Energy Savings checkup from a PGE Energy Expert.

This likely means that your account is on interval billing. Interval billing means your charges are based on energy use during specific time periods. Instead of a single flat charge, we calculate your bill by looking at how much energy you used in each interval, so your meter reading will show as N/A.

Workshops, separate garages, greenhouses, and various other outbuildings do not qualify as residential service. PGE's definition of a residence is in Rule B of our Tariff and is based on state statutes approved by the Oregon Public Utility Commission. To qualify for a residential rate, a dwelling must contain permanent facilities for sleeping, bathing and cooking. Thus, outbuildings must be separately metered and billed under nonresidential rates.

A second meter for your workshop supports safe and reliable service by avoiding running wires between the house and shop. Furthermore, if you are using high-powered tools in your workshop, you could interfere with the quality of power needed to run appliances in the home without a separate service.