Tool
Load factor calculator
The single best diagnostic for whether a commercial account sits on the wrong utility rate schedule — and it costs nothing to check.
Load factor is consumption divided by peak demand multiplied by the hours in the period. An account using 100,000 kWh with a 400 kW peak over a 730-hour month has a load factor of 34.2%, which is low. Below about 40 percent, demand charges usually dominate the bill.
Source: Calculation engine v1.0.0 · 2026-10-31
How to read the result
| Load factor | Band | What usually follows |
|---|---|---|
| Under 20% | Very low | Demand charges typically dominate. A demand-metered schedule is often a poor fit. |
| 20–40% | Low | Peaky usage. Rate schedule fit is worth checking before any supply conversation. |
| 40–60% | Moderate | Both supply rate and demand structure matter. |
| 60–80% | High | The supply rate carries most of the controllable cost. |
| Over 80% | Very high | Near-continuous load. Contract structure and timing dominate. |
Bands are documented in the methodology. They are interpretive guidance for prioritising work, not a tariff rule.
Why this matters more than the supply rate for many accounts
Utility rate schedules are designed around assumed load shapes. An account whose actual shape has drifted from the schedule it sits on can be paying a demand rate built for a much steadier consumer, or a volumetric rate built for a much peakier one. Correcting that is computed from your own usage against a publicly filed alternative tariff, so it is verifiable by you or your accountant — and it requires no supplier, which is why it also works in fully regulated states.
The drift is usually nobody's fault. A rate schedule is chosen once, often by whoever opened the account, sometimes by a previous tenant, and then it is never revisited. Meanwhile the business changes: equipment is added, shifts are extended, a second unit is taken next door, refrigeration is upgraded. The schedule stays where it was.
How to get the inputs
Period kWh is on every bill. Peak kW is only printed if the account is demand-metered — look for a kW figure near the usage section, sometimes labelled billing demand or maximum demand. If there is no kW figure anywhere on the bill, the account is not demand-metered, which is itself a useful finding: it means demand charges are not currently part of your cost, and it constrains which rate schedules you are eligible for.
Use 730 hours for a typical month, or multiply the exact days in the billing period by 24 for precision. The difference rarely changes the band, but using the actual period is better practice when you are comparing months against each other.
One caution: a single month's load factor can mislead. A seasonal operation will show a very different figure in August than in February, and the annual picture is what determines rate schedule fit. Twelve months of readings is the standard.
Send 12 months of bills and we will compute your load factor from actual data and re-bill your usage under the alternative schedules your utility offers.