SCE Super Off-Peak Rates: How Solar Homeowners with Batteries Use Cheap Midday Power to Cut Bills in Half

1. What Super Off-Peak Actually Means on SCE Bills

Every SCE time-of-use plan has at least two pricing tiers: on-peak (when the grid is under stress and rates are high) and off-peak (all other hours at a lower rate). Some SCE plans add a third tier called super off-peak, which is cheaper than standard off-peak and targets specific hours when grid demand is especially low.

The reason super off-peak exists is straightforward. On sunny days in California, solar generation from rooftop panels and utility-scale solar farms floods the grid at midday. The grid ends up with a surplus of cheap electricity. SCE passes that pricing signal to customers through the super off-peak tier, pricing those hours below the standard off-peak rate.

On TOU-D-4-9PM, the super off-peak window runs from 8am to 4pm in October through May at 32 cents per kWh, against 36 cents off-peak and a 50 cent mid-peak rate from 4pm to 9pm (per SCE's rate page, checked October 7, 2026). In summer (June through September), the plan has a 33 cent off-peak rate and a 59 cent on-peak rate on weekdays from 4pm to 9pm. The October-through-May spread from super off-peak to mid-peak is 18 cents per kWh (50 minus 32). For a homeowner with a battery, that spread is pure margin on every kilowatt-hour they can time-shift from the cheap window to the expensive window.

On TOU-D-PRIME, SCE's default plan for NEM 3.0 solar customers, the super off-peak window runs from 8am to 4pm in October through May at 24 cents per kWh, against 30 cents off-peak and a 45 cent mid-peak rate from 4pm to 9pm. That is an even deeper discount than TOU-D-4-9PM's 32 cents (8 cents lower), designed to absorb midday solar surplus.

2. Which SCE Rate Plans Include a Super Off-Peak Window

Not every SCE residential rate plan has a super off-peak tier. Here is where it appears:

3. TOU-D-4-9PM: Super Off-Peak Hours and What They Cost

TOU-D-4-9PM is the most widely available SCE plan with a super off-peak tier. It is not restricted to solar customers and it does not require a battery. SCE's rates for this plan, including generation and delivery (per SCE's rate page, checked October 7, 2026):

From October through May the evening rate is a 50 cent mid-peak instead of a 59 cent summer on-peak, and super off-peak is 32 cents. The gap between the two is 18 cents per kWh (50 minus 32), against 26 cents in summer (59 on-peak minus 33 off-peak). Both are meaningful margins for battery cycling.

For solar homeowners without batteries on TOU-D-4-9PM, the super off-peak tier means your panels are generating at the exact same time SCE prices power cheapest. If you are on NEM 2.0 and your panels produce during those hours, you generate while power is cheapest and buy back evening power later at 50 cents (October through May mid-peak). That is still a reasonable exchange under NEM 2.0. Under NEM 3.0, that exchange is broken -- which is why a battery matters so much for NEM 3.0 customers.

4. TOU-D-PRIME: The NEM 3.0 Default Plan and Its Daily Super Off-Peak Window

TOU-D-PRIME is the rate plan SCE assigns to most new solar customers under NEM 3.0. It is a more aggressive time-of-use structure than TOU-D-4-9PM. In summer, the 4pm to 9pm window costs 61 cents per kWh on weekdays and 39 cents (mid-peak) on weekends (per SCE's rate page, checked October 7, 2026). Even the weekend evening rate sits above the plan's 26 cent summer off-peak rate, so there is no cheap evening on this plan.

The trade-off is a super off-peak window from 8am to 4pm in October through May at 24 cents per kWh. That is 8 cents cheaper than TOU-D-4-9PM's 32 cent super off-peak (32 minus 24), and the plan's 26 cent summer off-peak rate is 7 cents below TOU-D-4-9PM's 33 cents.

For NEM 3.0 solar customers, TOU-D-PRIME's 8am to 4pm super off-peak window (October through May) aligns directly with solar production. Between 9am and 2pm, a south-facing 7-8 kW system in Temecula produces roughly 5-7 kWh per hour in summer. If your battery is not already fully charged from the previous day, it can absorb that production at zero export loss. Any additional generation fills the battery from solar, not the grid, so the 24 cents is the counterfactual cost of what you are displacing with free solar electrons.

The more interesting case is a cloudy or low-production day. On those days, your panels under-produce and the battery enters the 8am to 4pm super off-peak window with room to charge. Rather than waiting and buying at the 45 cent mid-peak rate, the battery can be configured to pull from the grid at 24 cents to prepare for the 4pm to 9pm window. That grid-charging arbitrage is the core economic strategy this guide covers.

5. The Arbitrage Math: 32 Cents In, 50 Cents Out

Battery arbitrage is simple: buy electricity cheap, use it when prices are high, avoid paying the high rate. The math on SCE's super off-peak windows is among the most favorable in California for residential batteries.

On TOU-D-4-9PM from October through May:

A 10 kWh usable battery cycling once per day at a net margin of $0.14 to $0.155 per kWh earns approximately $1.40 to $1.55 per day (net margin: $0.50 x 0.92 minus $0.32 is $0.14, $0.50 x 0.95 minus $0.32 is $0.155, times 10 kWh). In summer, the same battery buys off-peak power at 33 cents and discharges at the 59 cent weekday on-peak rate, a net of $0.21 to $0.23 per kWh ($0.59 x 0.92 minus $0.33 is $0.21, $0.59 x 0.95 minus $0.33 is $0.23), or $2.10 to $2.30 per day. That is in addition to the savings from solar covering daytime load directly.

On TOU-D-PRIME, the super off-peak rate is lower (24 cents versus 32 cents) and so is the mid-peak rate (45 cents versus 50 cents), so the October-through-May gross margin is 21 cents per kWh (45 minus 24) against 18 cents on TOU-D-4-9PM. In summer, TOU-D-PRIME buys off-peak at 26 cents and discharges at the 61 cent weekday on-peak rate, a 35 cent gross margin (61 minus 26). Net of 92-95% efficiency, that is $0.30 to $0.32 per kWh ($0.61 x 0.92 minus $0.26 is $0.30, $0.61 x 0.95 minus $0.26 is $0.32), so a 10 kWh battery cycled once on a summer weekday earns $3.00 to $3.20 per day.

For reference, a typical Temecula home with central AC uses 1,500-2,500 kWh per month in summer. Without solar or a battery, a large share of that bill lands in the 4pm to 9pm on-peak window in June through August. A correctly sized battery cycling every day covers 8-12 kWh of that on-peak load, shifting it onto cheaper off-peak energy.

6. NEM 3.0 Export Credits vs Grid-Charging During Super Off-Peak

Under NEM 3.0, every solar export to the grid is credited at the Avoided Cost Calculator rate. That rate averages 5-8 cents per kWh for most hours of the year. During the super off-peak window on TOU-D-4-9PM (8am-4pm, October through May), the ACC export rate is at the low end because the grid already has abundant supply from California's solar fleet. You might receive 4-6 cents per kWh exported during those hours.

Compare that to the value of storing those same kilowatt-hours in your battery and discharging them at 5pm on a summer Monday at 59 cents on TOU-D-4-9PM or 61 cents on TOU-D-PRIME (per SCE's rate page, checked October 7, 2026). The stored-and-discharged electron is worth roughly 7 to 12 times more than the exported electron (59 divided by 8 is 7.4, 61 divided by 5 is 12.2). This is not a close comparison. Under NEM 3.0, every kilowatt-hour you can keep out of the export stream and redirect into storage is a substantial win.

The only situation where exporting beats storing is when your battery is already at 100% state of charge and solar is still generating. You cannot store what you have no room for. That is why battery sizing matters. A 10 kWh battery paired with an 8 kW solar system in Temecula will fill around 9am on a clear summer day. Any solar production after that point exports at ACC rates until the battery begins discharging. Properly sized systems (12-20 kWh of storage for high-production summer homes) delay that export window until later in the afternoon, capturing more of the midday production in storage.

For NEM 3.0 customers asking whether to grid-charge the battery during super off-peak on days when solar does not fill it: yes, almost always. Buying grid power at 24 to 33 cents to discharge at 45 to 61 cents is a 1.6 to 2.3 times return on the electricity purchased (50 divided by 32 is 1.56 at the low end, 61 divided by 26 is 2.35 at the high end). The only exceptions are grid outage preparedness mode (where you want to preserve battery capacity for backup) and cases where your utility contract explicitly prohibits grid-charging for export compensation -- which NEM 3.0 does not do.

7. EV Charging During the Super Off-Peak Window

The super off-peak window is the best time to charge an EV on SCE rates. A Level 2 home charger delivering 7.2 kW adds roughly 25 miles of range per hour at about $2.30 per hour during super off-peak on TOU-D-4-9PM (7.2 kWh x $0.32, per SCE's rate page, checked October 7, 2026). At the 50 cent October-through-May mid-peak rate, that same hour costs $3.60 (7.2 x $0.50), and at the 59 cent summer on-peak rate it costs $4.25. Over 30,000 miles of annual driving on a vehicle averaging 3.5 miles per kWh (8,571 kWh), the difference between charging entirely at 32 cents versus entirely at 50 cents is roughly $1,540 per year (8,571 x $0.18).

For EV owners on TOU-D-4-9PM without a battery, the 8am-4pm window from October through May is your primary target. Most EV charging apps and built-in vehicle schedulers allow you to set a departure time and charge start time. Set it to begin at 8am and complete before 4pm. In summer, the cheapest option is the off-peak rate of 33 cents. Avoid charging between 4pm and 9pm entirely.

For EV owners on TOU-D-PRIME, the 8am-4pm super off-peak window at 24 cents (October through May) is better than the 32 cent window on TOU-D-4-9PM. If your schedule allows, charging at 10am on a Tuesday costs 8 cents per kWh less than TOU-D-4-9PM's super off-peak (25 percent less) and roughly half of TOU-D-PRIME's 45 cent mid-peak (24 divided by 45 is 0.53). Solar-only EV charging (plugging in at home during peak production hours without a rate plan) wastes the opportunity to match the cheapest rate window. TOU-D-PRIME explicitly prices that midday window at its cheapest to encourage EV charging from solar surplus.

Homes with both a battery and an EV face a prioritization question: does the solar production charge the battery first or the EV first? Most energy management systems let you set priority. For NEM 3.0 customers, battery-first is usually correct because the battery can cycle at peak every day while the EV charges at super off-peak rates from the grid when needed. On days with excellent production, charge both simultaneously.

8. How to Configure Enphase, Tesla Powerwall, and Franklin aPower for Super Off-Peak Charging

Every major battery system sold in California supports time-of-use optimization with scheduled charge and discharge windows. Here is how to configure each for SCE super off-peak.

All three systems also offer automated TOU optimization that reads your utility rate plan and schedules charge and discharge without manual window entry. Enphase's Savings Mode with an SCE rate plan selected is the simplest for homeowners who do not want to manage schedules manually. Tesla's Time-Based Control is similarly automated. Franklin requires more manual configuration but gives granular control over charge targets.

9. Midday Load Shifting for Pool Owners and High-Usage Homes

The super off-peak window is not only valuable for battery charging. Any large electrical load you can move into that window -- pool pump, EV charging, laundry, dishwasher, irrigation system pump -- gets priced at 32 cents (TOU-D-4-9PM) or 24 cents (TOU-D-PRIME) in October through May instead of the 50 or 45 cent mid-peak rate. That is 18 to 21 cents saved on every kilowatt-hour you move, before touching the battery.

Pool pumps are the clearest example. A variable-speed pool pump running 8 hours per day at 1.5 kW consumes 12 kWh. At the October-through-May mid-peak rate on TOU-D-4-9PM (50 cents), that is $6.00 per day. At the super off-peak rate (32 cents), that is $3.84 per day. Running the pump during super off-peak instead saves $2.16 per day, or about $525 over the 243 days from October through May (243 x $2.16 = $524.88).

Smart pool pump controllers like Pentair IntelliConnect and Hayward OmniLogic support time-of-use scheduling. You enter your on-peak hours, and the controller automatically defers or shifts pump operation to cheaper windows. This is a $200-400 add-on for most existing variable-speed pump installations and typically pays back in under two years on SCE TOU rates.

Laundry is the next most impactful. A washer and dryer cycle uses roughly 3.5-5 kWh. Running it at 9am in October through May costs about $1.12 to $1.60 (32 cents per kWh). Running it at 6pm on a Tuesday costs about $1.75 to $2.50 (50 cents per kWh). The per-load difference is 63 to 90 cents. A family running 8 loads per week that moves even half of them to the midday window shifts 208 loads a year and saves roughly $130 to $190 at those October-through-May rates (208 x $0.63 = $131, 208 x $0.90 = $187).

Dishwashers, water heaters (electric resistance or heat pump), and HVAC pre-cooling also respond to time-of-use scheduling. Pre-cooling your home to 74 degrees before 4pm, then allowing it to drift to 76 or 77 during on-peak hours, reduces compressor runtime during the most expensive window. A 5-ton AC system at 2.5 kW per ton running 30 minutes less per hour during a 5-hour on-peak window avoids 3.75 kWh at the 59 cent summer on-peak rate on TOU-D-4-9PM -- roughly $2.20 per day (3.75 x $0.59), or about $190 over 87 summer weekdays.

10. Summer vs Winter: How the Super Off-Peak Savings Change by Season

SCE's TOU rates have two seasons: summer (June 1 through September 30) and winter (October 1 through May 31). In summer the cheap hours are the off-peak rate and the expensive hours are on-peak. From October through May, a super off-peak tier appears from 8am to 4pm and the evening window is priced as mid-peak. That asymmetry means the arbitrage margin is wider in summer and narrower in winter.

Two things are worth noting from this table (per SCE's rate page, checked October 7, 2026). First, TOU-D-PRIME has the wider margin in both seasons: 35 cents versus 26 cents in summer (61 minus 26, 59 minus 33) and 21 cents versus 18 cents from October through May (45 minus 24, 50 minus 32). That is why NEM 3.0 customers on TOU-D-PRIME get stronger battery margins than TOU-D-4-9PM customers.

Second, winter arbitrage margins are still meaningful at 18 to 21 cents per kWh. Winter solar production in Temecula is lower (shorter days, lower sun angle) but still generates 4-5 kWh per hour on clear days from 10am to 2pm. If solar production and super off-peak grid charging together fill the battery by 1pm in winter, you still have 4-5 hours of on-peak coverage before the battery depletes. That covers most of the on-peak window on most winter days.

11. Temecula Peak Hour Patterns in Summer and Why They Line Up Perfectly

Temecula sits in an inland valley east of the coastal marine layer. By 2pm in June through September, inland temperatures in the city routinely reach 95-108 degrees. That heat drives air conditioning loads that begin ramping up around 1pm and peak between 4pm and 7pm, which is exactly the on-peak window on TOU plans.

The alignment between Temecula's climate and SCE's peak hours is not coincidental. SCE priced those hours as on-peak specifically because that is when residential demand peaks across their service territory, and inland valley communities like Temecula, Murrieta, Menifee, and Lake Elsinore are among the highest-demand areas due to heat.

What this means practically: a typical Temecula home with 2,500-3,500 square feet and a 3-5 ton AC system running through a summer afternoon draws 3-7 kW of AC load alone during on-peak hours. Add a refrigerator, lights, and other base load and a summer evening house might pull 5-9 kW total. A single 13.5 kWh battery at 5 kW discharge covers the average home for 1.5-2.5 hours of the 5-hour on-peak window. Two batteries (27 kWh total) can cover the full 5-hour window for a moderately sized home.

Through the midday hours, Temecula temperatures are already climbing toward 85-95 degrees by 10am in summer. The AC is running, solar production is at peak, and the battery is charging from solar and, from October through May, potentially from the grid at the 8am-4pm super off-peak rate. By 4pm, a well-configured system should have a full or near-full battery ready for the transition to the 4pm-9pm pricing window.

On weekdays, the same strategy depends on solar production and battery charge state at the end of the solar day. A 10 kW solar system with a 20 kWh battery in Temecula produces roughly 55-70 kWh per day in summer. After covering base daytime load, a fully charged 20 kWh battery enters the on-peak window at 4pm and can power the home through 9pm without drawing from the grid. That daily cycle is what zero-bill solar looks like in practice for a high-consumption Temecula home.

12. Frequently Asked Questions