Maximum Demand Charge Rates for Residential, Commercial and Industrial Electricity Tariffs in the United States
National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR) has assembled a list of U.S. retail electricity tariffs and their associated demand charge rates for the Residential, Commercial and Industrial sectors. The data was obtained from the Utility Rate Database (URDB). Keep the following information in mind when interpreting the data:
(1) The dataset contains maximum demand charges for individual tariffs. The value represents the maximum demand charge value, looking across an entire year. The demand charge calculation for a given tariff may vary across the course of a year. Only the maximum value is shown in this dataset. The maximum may be significantly different at other times in the year.
(2) If a tariff has multiple demand charge elements that are added together to calculate the total demand charge, the value presented is the sum of the elements. For example, if there is a demand charge element that is applied year round and a separate seasonal or time-varying element that is applied in addition to the year round element, then these are added together to calculate the maximum demand charge value presented in this dataset.
(3) In cases where tariffs have different tiers, the highest rate tier was assumed.
(4) This dataset only contains tariffs that are entered into the Utility Rate Database. Not all tariffs in the United States are in the URDB. The URDB is updated periodically and some tariffs may have changed since the URDB was last updated.
(5) The data in the URDB were interpreted and transcribed manually from utility tariff sheets, which are often complex. It is possible that URDB entries have errors. As such, these data should only be used as a reference. Actual utility tariff sheets should be consulted if decisions are being made that rely on high levels of accuracy.
(6) The URDB contains several industrial rates that are above $100/kW under certain conditions (e.g., above a certain demand level), but these are not applicable to most customers and were omitted from this dataset since they are outliers.
(7) Coincident demand charges may only be issued if a customer peak period overlaps with the utility-defined peak period. Consult the tariff sheet for
details about how and when demand charge elements are applicable.
Citation Formats
TY - DATA
AB - National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR) has assembled a list of U.S. retail electricity tariffs and their associated demand charge rates for the Residential, Commercial and Industrial sectors. The data was obtained from the Utility Rate Database (URDB). Keep the following information in mind when interpreting the data:
(1) The dataset contains maximum demand charges for individual tariffs. The value represents the maximum demand charge value, looking across an entire year. The demand charge calculation for a given tariff may vary across the course of a year. Only the maximum value is shown in this dataset. The maximum may be significantly different at other times in the year.
(2) If a tariff has multiple demand charge elements that are added together to calculate the total demand charge, the value presented is the sum of the elements. For example, if there is a demand charge element that is applied year round and a separate seasonal or time-varying element that is applied in addition to the year round element, then these are added together to calculate the maximum demand charge value presented in this dataset.
(3) In cases where tariffs have different tiers, the highest rate tier was assumed.
(4) This dataset only contains tariffs that are entered into the Utility Rate Database. Not all tariffs in the United States are in the URDB. The URDB is updated periodically and some tariffs may have changed since the URDB was last updated.
(5) The data in the URDB were interpreted and transcribed manually from utility tariff sheets, which are often complex. It is possible that URDB entries have errors. As such, these data should only be used as a reference. Actual utility tariff sheets should be consulted if decisions are being made that rely on high levels of accuracy.
(6) The URDB contains several industrial rates that are above $100/kW under certain conditions (e.g., above a certain demand level), but these are not applicable to most customers and were omitted from this dataset since they are outliers.
(7) Coincident demand charges may only be issued if a customer peak period overlaps with the utility-defined peak period. Consult the tariff sheet for
details about how and when demand charge elements are applicable.
AU - McLaren, Joyce
A2 - Speetles, Brittany
A3 - Stright, Dana
DB - Open Energy Data Initiative (OEDI)
DP - Open EI | National Laboratory of the Rockies
DO -
KW - energy
KW - power
KW - demand charge
KW - tariff
KW - electricity
KW - commercial
KW - industrial
KW - residential
KW - URDB
KW - utility rate
KW - energy analysis
KW - grid modernization
KW - utilities
KW - distribution capactiy
KW - coincident
KW - renewable energy
KW - electric power industry
KW - service territories
KW - EIA
KW - United States
KW - maximum
KW - charge rate
KW - rates
KW - data
LA - English
DA - 2026/05/04
PY - 2026
PB - National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR)
T1 - Maximum Demand Charge Rates for Residential, Commercial and Industrial Electricity Tariffs in the United States
UR - https://data.openei.org/submissions/8685
ER -
McLaren, Joyce, et al. Maximum Demand Charge Rates for Residential, Commercial and Industrial Electricity Tariffs in the United States. National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR), 4 May, 2026, Open Energy Data Initiative (OEDI). https://data.openei.org/submissions/8685.
McLaren, J., Speetles, B., & Stright, D. (2026). Maximum Demand Charge Rates for Residential, Commercial and Industrial Electricity Tariffs in the United States. [Data set]. Open Energy Data Initiative (OEDI). National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR). https://data.openei.org/submissions/8685
McLaren, Joyce, Brittany Speetles, and Dana Stright. Maximum Demand Charge Rates for Residential, Commercial and Industrial Electricity Tariffs in the United States. National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR), May, 4, 2026. Distributed by Open Energy Data Initiative (OEDI). https://data.openei.org/submissions/8685
@misc{OEDI_Dataset_8685,
title = {Maximum Demand Charge Rates for Residential, Commercial and Industrial Electricity Tariffs in the United States},
author = {McLaren, Joyce and Speetles, Brittany and Stright, Dana},
abstractNote = {National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR) has assembled a list of U.S. retail electricity tariffs and their associated demand charge rates for the Residential, Commercial and Industrial sectors. The data was obtained from the Utility Rate Database (URDB). Keep the following information in mind when interpreting the data:
(1) The dataset contains maximum demand charges for individual tariffs. The value represents the maximum demand charge value, looking across an entire year. The demand charge calculation for a given tariff may vary across the course of a year. Only the maximum value is shown in this dataset. The maximum may be significantly different at other times in the year.
(2) If a tariff has multiple demand charge elements that are added together to calculate the total demand charge, the value presented is the sum of the elements. For example, if there is a demand charge element that is applied year round and a separate seasonal or time-varying element that is applied in addition to the year round element, then these are added together to calculate the maximum demand charge value presented in this dataset.
(3) In cases where tariffs have different tiers, the highest rate tier was assumed.
(4) This dataset only contains tariffs that are entered into the Utility Rate Database. Not all tariffs in the United States are in the URDB. The URDB is updated periodically and some tariffs may have changed since the URDB was last updated.
(5) The data in the URDB were interpreted and transcribed manually from utility tariff sheets, which are often complex. It is possible that URDB entries have errors. As such, these data should only be used as a reference. Actual utility tariff sheets should be consulted if decisions are being made that rely on high levels of accuracy.
(6) The URDB contains several industrial rates that are above $100/kW under certain conditions (e.g., above a certain demand level), but these are not applicable to most customers and were omitted from this dataset since they are outliers.
(7) Coincident demand charges may only be issued if a customer peak period overlaps with the utility-defined peak period. Consult the tariff sheet for
details about how and when demand charge elements are applicable.},
url = {https://data.openei.org/submissions/8685},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {Open Energy Data Initiative (OEDI), National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR), https://data.openei.org/submissions/8685},
note = {Accessed: 2026-11-13}
}
Details
Data from May 4, 2026
Last updated Jul 14, 2026
Submitted May 8, 2026
Organization
National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR)
Contact
Joyce McLaren
303.384.7362
Authors
Research Areas
Keywords
energy, power, demand charge, tariff, electricity, commercial, industrial, residential, URDB, utility rate, energy analysis, grid modernization, utilities, distribution capactiy, coincident, renewable energy, electric power industry, service territories, EIA, United States, maximum, charge rate, rates, dataDOE Project Details
Project Name Demand Charges in the Electricity Sector
Project Number 52599
