Puget Sound Energy’s residential Time of Use pilot does something almost no other utility on this list does: it charges more for peak electricity in winter than in summer. If you moved to Washington from California or the Southeast and assumed summer would be the expensive season, PSE’s rate schedule will surprise you.
PSE's peak rate is actually higher in winter than summer. Look up the exact hours for your plan.
See my peak hours →Residential Time of Use Pilot (Rate 307)
| Season | Months | Peak hours | Peak rate | Off-peak rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winter | Jan–Mar, Oct–Dec | 7–10am and 5–8pm | 36.2¢/kWh | 11.3¢/kWh |
| Summer | Apr–Sep | 7–10am and 5–8pm | 24.6¢/kWh | 11.3¢/kWh |
The window is identical year-round, morning commute hours and evening dinner hours. Only the peak rate changes, and it’s the winter rate that’s higher, by nearly 12¢/kWh. That’s because the Pacific Northwest’s electric grid runs hottest, so to speak, when electric heating demand spikes on cold winter mornings and evenings, not when air conditioning kicks in during a mild Seattle-area summer.
PSE also offers two related pilot rates (317 and 327) with a “peak time rebate” or three-tier structure, generally trading a narrower peak/off-peak spread for a bill credit program instead. Rate 307’s straightforward two-tier structure is the clearest one to plan a household schedule around.
What Shifting Is Worth, in Dollars
Take a winter morning: coffee, shower, and running a load through the dishwasher from the night before, about 4 kWh, inside the 7–10am window.
At peak: 4 kWh × $0.362 = $1.45 Same load shifted to after 10am: 4 kWh × $0.113 = $0.45
That’s $1.00 saved per shifted routine, a 69% cut, one of the larger dollar swings on this list, driven by how high the winter peak rate climbs. Over 90 winter weekdays split across the two daily windows, consistently avoiding both is worth well over $150 for the season.
Winter Habits Matter More Than Summer Ones Here
Because the peak rate is so much lower in summer, the behavior changes that matter most on this plan are winter ones: delaying the morning coffee-and-shower routine’s electric load where possible, running the dishwasher overnight instead of after dinner, and treating 7–10am and 5–8pm as the two expensive windows to route around specifically between October and March.
Should You Switch to the TOU Pilot?
This is a genuinely large winter spread, big enough that a household with real flexibility around the morning and evening commute windows can save substantially. It’s a harder sell for anyone whose schedule is fixed around exactly those hours, working parents getting kids out the door at 7:30am and home for dinner at 6, since that’s precisely when the rate is highest.
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 PSE usage against the standard rate and the TOU pilot and tell you which one actually costs less for how you live.
Find my best Puget Sound Energy 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.