Industry
Commercial electricity for auto dealerships
Large lot lighting load, service bays, and a growing EV charging obligation.
Auto dealerships typically run a low to moderate load factor, which means demand charges and rate schedule fit usually matter more than the supply rate. Large lot lighting load, service bays, and a growing EV charging obligation.
Long lot-lighting hours either side of the service day. EV charging, once added, lands on top of an already broad afternoon peak.
Illustrative shape, not measured data. It shows the pattern this kind of operation tends to follow, which is why its bill behaves the way it does. Your real profile comes from your own interval data, and it is the only version that can produce a number.
What the federal building survey says
In 2018 the U.S. Energy Information Administration surveyed 6,436 commercial buildings and recorded the electricity each used. These are the surveyed buildings that match auto dealerships, in kWh per square foot per year. Each is a whole building classed by what fills the most of it, so a single tenant space inside a larger building can use more or less.
The survey has no category of its own for dealerships. It counts a dealership or showroom for vehicles within retail, and the repair side within vehicle service, so both are shown.
Retail store or showroom
9.0kWh per sq ft a year, median
The middle half of surveyed buildings used 5.1 to 14.5. Nearly all fell between 2.9 and 25.5.
A typical one is 6,500 sq ft. At the median that is about 58,695 kWh a year, roughly $730 a month at the US average commercial price.
338 surveyed buildings Solid
Estimate your buildingVehicle service or repair shop
4.6kWh per sq ft a year, median
The middle half of surveyed buildings used 2.4 to 8.7. Nearly all fell between 1.2 and 13.0.
A typical one is 4,800 sq ft. At the median that is about 21,936 kWh a year, roughly $280 a month at the US average commercial price.
106 surveyed buildings Fair
Estimate your buildingSurvey year 2018, so this is the usage pattern, not a forecast. Prices here are today's: the US average commercial price for the 12 months to the latest EIA month. The cost estimator does the same for your own floor area and state.
What drives the load
- Lot and display lighting
- Showroom HVAC
- Service bay equipment and compressors
- Paint and body shop where present
- EV charging
The trap this industry falls into
EV charging infrastructure added for inventory and customer use can reset a dealership’s billed demand permanently, and under a ratchet clause that new peak follows the account for months after the charging event that caused it.
What to actually do
- Model the demand impact of charging before the equipment is energised, not after
- Evaluate managed charging or load sharing across chargers
- Review lot lighting controls and photocell calibration
- Check the ratchet clause before any load addition
Which half of the bill to attack
A commercial bill splits into supply, which a competitive supplier can price where a competitive market exists, and delivery, demand, fixed charges and riders, which stay regulated whichever supplier you use. Load factor decides which half is worth your attention, and for auto dealerships the answer is usually clear.
At a low to moderate load factor, the peak is doing disproportionate damage relative to total consumption. Demand charges and rate schedule fit therefore usually matter more than the supply rate, and an operator who switches supplier to chase a lower supply price has left the growing part of the bill untouched.
This is also why a supply quote alone is a misleading answer for this industry. It is priced against the half of the bill that is not the problem.
The mechanics behind this: load factor, demand charges and rate schedule fit.
What we need to give you a real answer
- 12 months of bills with peak kW
- Charger count, power rating and usage pattern
- Lot lighting inventory
- Ratchet terms from the tariff
The item that most often turns a vague conversation into a specific finding is twelve months of peak kW. A single bill shows what you paid; twelve months of demand readings show the shape that caused it, and the shape is where the recoverable money is.
Send one recent bill. We compute the supply, delivery and demand split for your account and tell you which of the levers above is actually worth your time.