Empowering utility customers with demand flexibility

Oklahoma Gas & Electric, a utility serving Oklahoma, has been testing a "variable peak pricing" program that charges customers different rates depending on the time of day, with the goal of encouraging people to shift energy use away from the hours when the grid is most strained. Working with the AI company Bidgely, the utility found something unexpected: many customers were actually shifting their usage to the wrong hours, not the ones that would save them the most money or ease the most grid pressure.

To fix this, OG&E started sending customers personalized messages and recommendations based on their own usage patterns, rather than generic advice. That approach helped people actually lower their bills while also making the utility's flexibility program more useful and predictable for grid planners.

For homeowners, the takeaway is that time-of-use or variable-rate electricity plans only pay off if you shift usage to the right hours, and generic guidance about "peak hours" may not match your actual bill impact. Utilities are increasingly using AI-driven, personalized data to tell customers when their specific habits cost them the most and when shifting things like laundry, EV charging, or air conditioning would actually save money. If your utility offers a similar variable-rate or demand-response program, it's worth checking whether they provide personalized usage insights rather than relying on general peak-hour assumptions, since the right timing can differ from what seems obvious.