Alabama Power’s optional Real Time Advantage rate is flat for most of the year and only turns into a real time-of-use plan for four months. From June through September, a 1–7pm peak window appears at 32.8¢/kWh against 12.8¢/kWh the rest of the time, a 2.6x gap. The other eight months, the rate barely moves by time of day at all.
Alabama Power's real peak pricing only shows up in summer. Look up the exact hours for your plan.
See my peak hours →Rate RTA Energy: Three Very Different Seasons
| Season | Months | Structure | Peak rate | Other rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winter | Jan–Mar, Nov–Dec | Mild peak, 5–9am | 14.8¢/kWh | 12.8¢/kWh |
| Spring/Fall | Apr–May, Oct | Flat all day | n/a | 12.8¢/kWh |
| Summer | Jun–Sep | Peak 1–7pm | 32.8¢/kWh | 12.8¢/kWh |
For six months of the year (spring, fall, and most of winter), there’s almost nothing to optimize, the winter morning bump is only 2¢. The entire financial case for this plan lives in a single six-hour summer afternoon window.
Alabama Power also sells an EV-specific version of this rate (Plug-In Electric Vehicle RTA Energy) with the same peak rate but a different, lower off-peak structure for EV circuits, plus demand-charge variants (RTA Demand) that trade a lower energy rate for a separate $/kW fee based on your highest 30-minute draw during peak hours. RTA Energy, the no-demand-charge version, is the simpler comparison for most households.
What Shifting Is Worth, in Dollars
Take a summer afternoon: dishwasher and laundry, about 4 kWh, run inside the 1–7pm peak window.
At peak: 4 kWh × $0.328 = $1.31 Same load shifted to after 7pm: 4 kWh × $0.128 = $0.51
That’s $0.80 saved per shifted routine, a 61% cut. Over 120 summer days, consistently avoiding the 1–7pm window is worth roughly $96 for the season, concentrated entirely into four months.
Should You Switch to RTA?
Because eight months of the year this plan is close to a flat rate, the real question is just about summer: can your household push air conditioning setpoints, laundry, and cooking outside the 1–7pm window from June through September? If your afternoons are naturally quiet, kids at camp, adults at work, this is close to free savings for a third of the year with no downside the rest of the time. If your household is home and active specifically during those summer afternoon hours, run the comparison before switching.
For more ways to cut the bill beyond the rate plan itself, see how to lower your electric bill.
I can run your last 12 months of Alabama Power usage against the standard rate and RTA Energy and tell you which one actually costs less for how you live.
Find my best Alabama Power plan →For a broader diagnosis of what’s driving a high bill in the first place, see why is my electric bill so high.
Dana Whitmore
Energy Engineer & Billing Analyst · Optiwatt Energy Advisor
Dana has spent the past three years analyzing residential electricity billing data across PG&E, SCE, and SDG&E service territories. She's reviewed billing records for thousands of California households, and built the simulation engine that powers this site's rate-plan comparisons. She holds a degree in Electrical Engineering and lives in the Bay Area.