Consumers Energy Peak Hours Explained

Consumers Energy’s Time of Day rate (REV-1) has a real peak window in summer, 2–6pm at 23.1¢/kWh against 12.2¢ overnight, but it flattens out to almost nothing in the colder months. Knowing which season you’re in matters more than knowing the clock.

Residential Home and Plug-in EV ToD Rate (REV-1)

Despite the “Plug-in Electric Vehicle” in the name, REV-1 is Consumers Energy’s general residential Time of Day rate, open to any household, not just EV owners (a separate REV-2 rate exists specifically for EV-only circuits).

Season	Months	Structure	Peak rate	Other rates
Winter	Jan–May, Oct–Dec	Two-tier, mild spread	16.1¢/kWh (11pm–7am)	14.5¢/kWh (7am–11pm)
Summer	Jun–Sep	Three-tier	23.1¢/kWh (2–6pm)	16.1¢/kWh mid-day/evening, 12.2¢/kWh overnight

Notice that winter’s cheaper period is actually daytime (14.5¢), not overnight (16.1¢), the reverse of summer. The difference is small, about 1.6¢, so it’s not worth restructuring a winter routine around, but it means the “always run things at night” instinct only pays off for about four months of the year on this plan.

What Shifting Is Worth, in Dollars

Take a summer afternoon: dishwasher and a load of laundry, about 4 kWh, run inside the 2–6pm peak window.

At peak: 4 kWh × $0.2308 = $0.92 Same load shifted to overnight (11pm–7am): 4 kWh × $0.1221 = $0.49

That’s $0.43 saved per shifted routine, a 47% cut. Over about 120 summer days, consistently avoiding the 2–6pm window is worth roughly $52 for the season. Outside summer, the 1.6¢ swing between day and night makes shifting essentially not worth planning around.

The Four-Hour Summer Window Is Narrow and Specific

Unlike DTE’s 8-hour or FPL’s 9-hour peak blocks, Consumers Energy’s real peak is a tight 2–6pm window, exactly the hours right after lunch through early evening when air conditioning runs hardest on a hot Michigan afternoon. That narrowness is actually good news: delaying a dishwasher run by two hours, from 4pm to 6:01pm, is a small ask for a meaningful chunk of the savings.

Should You Switch to ToD?

Because the real financial story is concentrated in four summer months and a four-hour window, this plan rewards households that can specifically avoid running major appliances between 2 and 6pm on hot days, without needing to reorganize the rest of the year at all. If your household is naturally out of the house on summer afternoons, this is close to a free win.

For more ways to cut the bill beyond the rate plan itself, see how to lower your electric bill.

For a broader diagnosis of what’s driving a high bill in the first place, see why is my electric bill so high.