The electricity rate structure imported in the previous section can be edited to reflect the user's desired rate schedule (the rates imported from OpenEI may not be up to date). This can be done by clicking on the "edit rate" button. Users can also click on "Details" to open the rate schedule source on the OpenEI website. Details of both of these functions ("edit rate" and "Details") are shown below.
a) Edit rate
In this section, the user can edit the imported ToU rates. The following rates in this dialog are editable. The ToU period cannot be edited. Figure 5 has the screenshot of this tab.
i) Usage charges ($/kWh): ToU usage charge, the ToU period (1, 2, 3…) can be visualized in the OpenEI website (click the "detail" tab to open the "OpenEI" website)
ii) Demand charges ($/kW)
a. Maximum Demand: this is the overall maximum demand of the month
b. ToU Demand: this is the maximum demand within the utility define ToU period.
iii) Fixed charges ($/month or $/day): this is the fixed charge that the utility charges regardless of the energy usage.
iv) Power factor correction charges ($/kVAR or $/kWh/%): this accounts for the reactive power in the building.
After making the edit, the user has an option to either overwrite the existing rate schedule file (by clicking "Overwrite") or create a new rate schedule (by clicking "save new"). These buttons are on the lower right corner of the dialog box.
Figure 5: Editing OpenEI Rates
Note that the ToU period cannot be edited; only the rates are editable.
b) Details
This button will redirect the user to the OpenEI webpage. Users can check the ToU period, ToU rates of the selected rate using this button.
