Hotel Electricity Rates

Guest-room HVAC is the largest swing load — it rises and falls with occupancy. But the base load never drops to zero: the front desk runs all night, corridors stay lit, laundry cycles throughout the day, and pool equipment runs on a fixed schedule. Common areas, kitchen, and any fitness or conference facilities stack on top. The result is a high, flat consumption curve with occupancy-driven peaks that can push monthly bills well above the average commercial rate.

Often yes, and the mechanism is load factor. Load factor measures how evenly you draw power relative to your peak demand. Hotels run 24 hours a day, seven days a week, so their average draw stays close to their peak — a high load factor. Suppliers price electricity partly on how predictable and consistent your load is. A hotel that never fully shuts off looks more attractive to a supplier than a business with sharp morning spikes and overnight silence. That predictability can translate into lower all-in supply quotes at contract renewal.

Demand charges bill you for the highest 15-minute power draw recorded during the month, regardless of how brief that spike was. For hotels, the danger zone is check-in afternoon: HVAC units in newly occupied rooms all kick on, laundry is mid-cycle, and the kitchen is running at full capacity. That one hour can set the demand charge that appears on every line of your bill. See our guide to demand charges at /business/guides/demand-charges/ for the mechanics. Simple controls — staggering HVAC ramp-up after checkout, moving laundry runs to late evening — reduce the peak without touching the guest experience.

Fixed rates lock in the supply price for the contract term, which makes budgeting straightforward. Variable rates follow the wholesale market and can be cheaper when prices fall — but hotel margins are already squeezed by seasonal demand swings, and a wholesale price spike in a cold winter or hot summer lands on top of already-high occupancy. Most hotels benefit from fixed pricing for predictability. If your property has flexibility to curtail non-critical loads during price spikes, a partial index product can work, but it adds management overhead. Start with fixed; evaluate index products only after you have interval-meter data showing your load shape.

Start 60 to 90 days before your current contract expires. That window gives you enough time to gather competing quotes, compare all-in prices (not just the headline energy rate), and execute a new contract before your utility rolls you to default service — which is almost always more expensive. If your contract auto-renews, check the renewal date in the contract documents and calendar the 90-day mark. Shopping at the last minute forces you to take whatever is available rather than the best offer. Request quotes at /business/#quote-form.