Battery Storage Installer

PSE&G time-of-use rates are now part of the residential tariff in New Jersey, and for the first time a homeowner in PSE&G territory can pay roughly five times more for a kilowatt-hour at 6 p.m. than at 3 a.m. That gap is the entire business case for a home battery under this rate. The question is not whether the spread exists - it does - but whether it is wide enough, often enough, to justify cycling a battery every weekday. Below are three worked examples: a home with no solar, a solar-only home, and a solar-plus-battery home.

As of July 28, 2026: PSE&G's residential time-of-use schedule, RS-TOU 3P, first appears in the utility's Price to Compare tariff with an effective date of June 1, 2026, and enrollment is voluntary rather than automatic.

• Who qualifies: any PSE&G residential customer with a smart meter can opt in to the RS-TOU 3P rate; PSE&G states it will install a smart meter at no charge if you do not have one.
• When peak hits: on-peak is 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays only - weekends and holidays have no on-peak period at all.
• Summer spread: from June through September the on-peak supply price runs about 35 cents per kWh against about 6 cents off-peak, a spread near 29 cents.
• Winter spread: from October through May on-peak drops to about 20 cents, so the identical battery cycle earns less than half as much.
• Efficiency cost: at roughly 89% round-trip efficiency you buy about 1.12 kWh off-peak to deliver 1 kWh during the on-peak window.
• Downside protection: PSE&G states that if you do not save over your first 12 months on TOU compared with the standard rate, it automatically credits the difference.

One important scope note before the numbers. Every per-kWh price in this article comes from PSE&G's Price to Compare sheet, which covers the generation supply and transmission portions of your bill. It does not include distribution charges, and we could not confirm whether distribution is itself time-differentiated under RS-TOU 3P. Your total bill will therefore be higher than these figures suggest. What the arithmetic below actually measures is the spread between periods, which is the part a battery can capture.

What Are PSE&G's Time-of-Use Rate Periods in New Jersey in 2026?

PSE&G's RS-TOU 3P rate has three periods: on-peak from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays, off-peak from midnight to 6 a.m. every day, and mid-peak for all remaining hours. The tariff defines summer as June through September and winter as October through May, which means the expensive season is only four months long and the cheap season runs eight.

The detail most homeowners miss is that the on-peak period exists only on weekdays. On Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays there is no on-peak block at all - those days run mid-peak from 6 a.m. to midnight and off-peak from midnight to 6 a.m. Weekend air conditioning, weekend laundry, and weekend EV charging are never billed at the on-peak price.

These are combined energy plus transmission charges from the tariff, before sales tax and before distribution. Treat them as the pricing signal, not as your all-in retail rate.

How Big Is the Peak-to-Off-Peak Spread on PSE&G Time-of-Use Rates?

The peak-to-off-peak spread is about 28.7 cents per kWh in summer and about 13.2 cents per kWh in winter. That single pair of numbers determines almost everything about whether a battery pays on this rate, because the spread is the gross margin on every kilowatt-hour you move.

Notice what mid-peak does. In summer, mid-peak runs about 19.8 cents against a standard flat rate of about 17.9 cents; in winter it is about 19.2 cents against about 18.1 cents. Mid-peak is priced slightly above the flat rate in both seasons. That has two consequences worth sitting with.

• Mid-peak is not an arbitrage target. Shifting load out of mid-peak into off-peak is worth roughly 13 cents per kWh in summer, but shifting it out of on-peak is worth roughly 29 cents. The 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. window is where the money is.
• Switching to TOU repriced most of your day slightly upward. Because mid-peak covers the majority of waking hours, a household that moves to TOU and changes nothing will usually pay more in summer than it would have on the standard rate. The on-peak avoidance has to be large enough to overcome that drag.

Can a Home Battery Beat PSE&G Peak Rates Without Solar in 2026?

Yes, in summer a battery charged from the grid overnight and discharged from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. nets roughly 28 cents per kWh delivered; in winter it nets roughly 12 cents. This is the first of the three examples, and it is the cleanest because there is no solar production to model.

The per-kilowatt-hour arithmetic

A modern home battery is rated at about 89% round-trip efficiency at beginning of life under typical solar-shifting conditions, per Tesla's published Powerwall 3 datasheet. Real-world efficiency on an aged pack in a hot garage will be somewhat lower, so treat 89% as a favorable case. To deliver 1 kWh into the house during the on-peak window you must buy about 1.12 kWh during the off-peak window.

• Summer: 1.12 kWh bought at about 6.3 cents costs about 7.1 cents, and it displaces 1 kWh you would otherwise buy at about 35.0 cents. Net gain: about 27.9 cents per kWh delivered.
• Winter: 1.12 kWh bought at about 6.9 cents costs about 7.8 cents, and it displaces 1 kWh at about 20.1 cents. Net gain: about 12.3 cents per kWh delivered.

Scaling it to a season

Suppose the home moves 8 kWh out of the on-peak window each weekday - an average draw of about 1.6 kW across the five-hour block, which a single 13.5 kWh battery covers comfortably. Across roughly 86 summer weekdays that is about 690 kWh delivered on-peak, worth about $190 in avoided supply cost for the season.

Winter looks superficially similar and is actually much weaker. The same 8 kWh across roughly 170 winter weekdays is about 1,360 kWh delivered, worth about $167. But that requires roughly twice as many cycles for less total value: about $2.20 of value per cycle in summer versus about $0.98 per cycle in winter. Cycles are the scarce resource - they are what your ten-year warranty is denominated in.

One open question before you build a plan around this scenario: we could not confirm from PSE&G tariff text or New Jersey Board of Public Utilities orders whether charging a battery from the grid affects eligibility for state storage incentive programs. Charging from the grid is plainly a normal battery capability, but do not assume it is compatible with every incentive you might want to claim. Confirm it for your specific program before you commit.

Does Solar Alone Erase the 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. Premium in New Jersey?

No - rooftop solar without storage leaves most of the on-peak premium in place, because solar produces during mid-peak hours and PSE&G describes its TOU net metering as maintaining a separate energy credit bank for each period. This is the second example, and it is the one that surprises people.

A rooftop array in New Jersey does most of its work between roughly 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., which falls entirely inside the mid-peak block. Production in the last two hours before sunset is a small fraction of midday output, and after sunset it is zero. So a large share of a household's 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. consumption - and essentially all of it after dark - is bought from the grid at the on-peak price.

The banking structure is what turns that from an inconvenience into a real cost. According to PSE&G's customer-facing net metering description, each time-of-use period has its own energy credit bank, and the peak and off-peak banks cannot be combined. Under that structure, surplus solar exported at 1 p.m. is credited to the mid-peak bank and can only offset future mid-peak usage. It does not automatically pay down the expensive 6 p.m. kilowatt-hours.

Run the illustrative month again. A solar home still consuming 200 kWh in the summer on-peak window pays about $70 for that block, even while holding a healthy mid-peak credit balance. On the standard flat rate that same surplus would have offset any hour at a single price.

Why Is Solar Plus a Battery the Strongest Case Under PSE&G TOU?

Solar plus a battery is the strongest case because the battery is the only component that can move energy into the 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. window, and in summer storing surplus solar is worth more than exporting it. This is the third example.

The comparison here is not against buying grid power - it is against exporting that same surplus kilowatt-hour. Diverting 1 kWh of surplus solar into the battery gives up a mid-peak credit but delivers 0.89 kWh on-peak.

• Summer: 0.89 kWh delivered on-peak is worth about 31.2 cents; the forgone mid-peak credit is worth about 19.8 cents. Storing beats exporting by about 11.4 cents per kWh diverted.
• Winter: 0.89 kWh delivered on-peak is worth about 17.9 cents; the forgone mid-peak credit is worth about 19.2 cents. Storing loses about 1.3 cents per kWh diverted.

The practical implication is a seasonal strategy rather than a single setting. From June through September, fill the battery from daytime surplus and discharge it across the evening block. From October through May, exporting the solar and - if grid charging fits your incentive situation - charging from the grid at the off-peak price is the better arithmetic, because the winter on-peak price barely exceeds mid-peak while the off-peak price stays near 7 cents.

This scenario has two hard prerequisites. First, you need real daytime surplus: to deliver 8 kWh across the evening block you need roughly 9 kWh of production above what the house is already consuming, which shoulder seasons and cloudy stretches will not always provide. Second, the battery has to be sized for a five-hour window, not a two-hour one - a partially charged pack that runs empty at 7 p.m. leaves the two most expensive hours uncovered.

How Do the Three New Jersey Scenarios Compare Side by Side?

Grid-charged battery storage is the cheapest way to serve on-peak load in both seasons; solar without storage is the most expensive on TOU. The table below prices one illustrative block of on-peak consumption - 200 kWh in a month, roughly 8 kWh across each of about 25 weekday evenings - five different ways.

Two readings worth pulling out. Against the flat rate, TOU without any load shifting is a summer loser and a modest winter winner. Against TOU without a battery, storage is decisive in summer - about $56 a month on this block alone - and much thinner in winter.

Key takeaway: All figures here are illustrative arithmetic applied to PSE&G's published supply-side prices and an assumed usage profile. They are not a guaranteed bill outcome. Your own split between on-peak, mid-peak, and off-peak consumption is the single biggest variable, and it is the one number no generic model can supply.

What Does PSE&G's First-Year Bill Protection Actually Cover?

PSE&G states that if you switch from the standard Residential Service rate to the TOU rate and do not realize savings after the first 12 months, it will automatically credit your account for the difference. As described by the utility, no claim or application is required, and customers may switch back to the standard RS rate at the end of the 12 months.

That guarantee changes the risk profile of trying TOU more than most homeowners realize. It converts the first year into a measured trial: if your household cannot actually move load out of the 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. window, the downside is refunded rather than absorbed. It also means the first year is the right time to collect real interval data before sizing a battery around it.

Two limits are worth naming. The protection is stated as covering the first 12 months only, so year two is entirely on you. And PSE&G's published description does not spell out whether a customer can exit early mid-year, so treat the 12-month term as the working assumption and ask before enrolling if that matters to you.

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• Can I Add a Tesla Powerwall to My Existing Solar Panels in New Jersey?
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Frequently Asked Questions About PSE&G Time-of-Use Rates in New Jersey

Does PSE&G move me onto the time-of-use rate automatically in 2026?

No. PSE&G describes the move to the RS-TOU 3P rate as voluntary, and customers have to actively switch through their online account. Enrollment also requires a smart meter at the property; PSE&G states it will install one at no charge for customers who do not already have one. If you take no action, you remain on the standard Residential Service rate with a single price in every hour.

Are weekends and holidays on-peak under PSE&G time-of-use rates?

No. The tariff defines the on-peak period as 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays, which means Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays have no on-peak block at all. Those days run off-peak from midnight to 6 a.m. and mid-peak for the remaining 18 hours. Weekend cooling, weekend laundry, and weekend EV charging never touch the on-peak price, which is one reason weekend-heavy households often fit this rate well.

What happens if I switch to PSE&G TOU and pay more in the first year?

PSE&G states that if you do not realize savings compared with the standard Residential Service rate after your first 12 months on TOU, it will automatically credit your account for the difference, with no claim process described. Customers can also return to the standard rate at the end of the 12 months. The published description does not address early exit mid-year, so ask PSE&G directly if that flexibility matters to you.

Do my solar export credits offset my 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. usage in PSE&G territory?

Probably not, based on PSE&G's customer-facing net metering description, which says each time-of-use period keeps its own energy credit bank and that peak and off-peak banks cannot be combined. Rooftop solar exports mostly during mid-peak hours, so those credits land in the mid-peak bank. We could not confirm this structure in verified tariff text, so confirm the treatment for your own account before relying on it.

Is it worth cycling a home battery in winter on PSE&G time-of-use rates?

Much less than in summer. The winter on-peak supply price of about 20.1 cents per kWh sits only about 0.9 cents above winter mid-peak, and after roughly 11% round-trip losses a grid-charged winter cycle returns about 12.3 cents per kWh delivered versus about 27.9 cents in summer. Because a cycle costs the same wear in either season, most households should dispatch aggressively from June through September and conservatively from October through May.

Can I charge a home battery from the grid overnight and still keep New Jersey incentives?

Treat this as an open question rather than a settled yes. Charging from the grid is a standard capability of modern home batteries, but we could not find PSE&G tariff language or a New Jersey Board of Public Utilities order confirming that grid charging leaves net metering and state storage incentive eligibility intact. Confirm it against the specific program rules before you build a savings plan around overnight grid charging.

Your Next Step on PSE&G Time-of-Use Rates in New Jersey

The honest answer to the headline question is conditional: a home battery lowers a PSE&G bill meaningfully in summer, modestly in winter, and only in proportion to how much energy your household actually consumes between 4 p.m. and 9 p.m. on weekdays. That number varies enormously between two houses on the same street.

1. Confirm you have a smart meter, and request one from PSE&G if you do not.
2. Pull your interval data and total the kilowatt-hours you use from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays, separately for June through September and October through May.
3. Multiply the summer on-peak total by about 28 cents and the winter total by about 12 cents to get an illustrative ceiling on annual arbitrage value.
4. Compare that ceiling against installed battery cost, and add the value you place on outage protection, which does not depend on rate spreads at all.
5. Ask PSE&G to confirm the net metering credit bank treatment and any incentive-program restrictions on grid charging before you commit.

PowerLutions' award-winning New Jersey battery team can analyze a homeowner's actual interval usage instead of assuming that every battery will produce the same time-of-use savings. If you are weighing storage in PSE&G territory, that measurement is the difference between a real projection and a marketing number. Talk with PowerLutions about what your own 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. block is costing you, or reach us directly using the buttons above.