Adams-Columbia Electric Cooperative (ACEC) Rate Selection Guide
Adams-Columbia Electric Cooperative (ACEC) is a Wisconsin cooperative founded in 1937, serving roughly 39,455 members across 12 central Wisconsin counties. Unusually for a cooperative its size, ACEC supports Green Button Download My Data through SmartHub — customers export 15-minute interval kWh and kW data as CSV — though it offers no Connect My Data, EDI, or third-party API programs.
Adams-Columbia Electric Cooperative (ACEC) Rate Schedule Comparison
| Schedule | Type | Rate | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| General Service (GS) | commercial | Board-set; see published rate info | Standard commercial accounts |
| GS-TOD (Time-of-Day) | commercial | On-peak / mid-peak / off-peak pricing by season | Commercial facilities able to shift load off-peak |
| Irrigation / Farm Service | agricultural | Seasonal rate; see published rate info | Agricultural and irrigation loads |
Market Overview
Member-owned Wisconsin cooperative with board-set rates; no PSC tariff filing and no retail choice. Time-of-day pricing (GS-TOD) gives commercial members a cost-optimization lever.
Need to pull your actual usage data to compare rates? See the Adams-Columbia Electric Cooperative (ACEC) Data Access Guide →
Current Rate Schedules
Adams-Columbia Electric Cooperative (ACEC) sets rates through its board of directors rather than filing tariffs with the Wisconsin PSC, and publishes rate summaries on its website. Rate classes cover residential, commercial/general service (GS), an optional Time-of-Day rate (GS-TOD) with on-peak, mid-peak, and off-peak periods, seasonal irrigation/farm service, and a small industrial class. Twenty-one ACEC rate schedules are documented in the OpenEI U.S. Utility Rate Database in standard format. Contact the cooperative for detailed rate specifications — no formal tariff book is published online.
Effective: January 1, 2025 · Full Tariff Book →
| Schedule | Type | Applicability | Structure | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| General Service (GS) | commercial | Commercial and small business accounts — offices, retail, shops, and farm service buildings. | Monthly fixed charge plus per-kWh energy charge; demand metering applies to larger GS loads. See published rate info for current figures. | — |
| General Service Time-of-Day (GS-TOD) | commercial | Optional rate for commercial customers able to shift consumption away from peak periods. | Energy rates vary by on-peak, mid-peak, and off-peak period and by season. ACEC's AMI meters record 15-minute interval data, letting customers verify TOD economics in SmartHub before switching. | — |
| Irrigation / Farm Service | agricultural | Seasonal irrigation pumping and agricultural loads — a significant load segment in ACEC's sandy-soil vegetable-growing region. | Seasonal rate structure aligned to the irrigation season; load management/peak alert participation can reduce costs. See published rate info for current figures. | — |
| Industrial Service | industrial | ACEC's small number of industrial accounts with measured demand. | Demand-billed structure with separate per-kW demand and per-kWh energy charges. Contact ACEC for detailed specifications. | —+ Per-kW demand charge; contact ACEC for current rates |
Rate Recommendations by Use Case
Office or Retail Business
Small commercial accounts in towns like Adams, Friendship, and Wisconsin Dells with standard daytime operating hours.
GS is the default commercial rate. Businesses that can pre-cool, run equipment overnight, or shift load to mid-peak and off-peak windows should model GS-TOD — ACEC's 15-minute AMI data in SmartHub makes it easy to test whether your load profile wins under time-of-day pricing.
- Export 15-minute kWh/kW interval data from SmartHub (CSV) and simulate GS-TOD before enrolling
- Watch ACEC's Peak Alert notices and curtail discretionary load during system peaks
- Verify your rate classification annually as load grows
Irrigated Agriculture
Vegetable and row-crop irrigation operations — a core load segment in ACEC's central Wisconsin sands region.
Seasonal irrigation rates match the pumping season's load shape, and pumping is one of the most shiftable loads on the system — running pivots overnight aligns with off-peak pricing and avoids contributing to summer peaks.
- Schedule pumping to off-peak overnight hours where time-differentiated pricing applies
- Monitor the load management history page to understand when ACEC peaks occur (hot summer afternoons)
- Consolidate multiple pump meters under one account review to catch idle-season fixed charges
Warehouse or Light Manufacturing
Demand-metered facilities with motors, compressors, and refrigeration in ACEC territory.
Demand-billed accounts pay for their single highest 15-minute peak each month, so demand management directly cuts the largest line item. ACEC's SmartHub interval data (kWh and kW at 15-minute resolution) shows exactly when peaks occur.
- Stagger motor and compressor starts to avoid coincident demand spikes
- Review the kW demand line on each bill — it is often the largest cost component
- Use SmartHub's kW interval export monthly to verify billed demand against actual operations
Cost Optimization Strategies
ACEC commercial members optimize costs primarily through the optional GS-TOD time-of-day rate and by managing peaks identified from 15-minute Green Button interval data and the published Peak Alert history.
Evaluate the GS-TOD time-of-day rate
For: Eligible commercial customers
Commercial customers able to shift consumption to mid-peak and off-peak windows can reduce energy costs under Schedule GS-TOD; monitor period usage in SmartHub to validate savings.
Use 15-minute interval data to manage demand
For: Demand-billed commercial and industrial accounts
Export Green Button CSV data to identify peak demand intervals and target load reductions, since demand charges can be the largest cost component on C&I bills.
Plan around published Peak Alert periods
For: All commercial members
ACEC's Load Management History page shows when system peaks occur; shifting discretionary load away from those windows lowers coincident demand exposure.
To implement these strategies, you need your 15-minute interval data. Learn how to download Adams-Columbia Electric Cooperative (ACEC) interval data →
Frequently Asked Questions
How do commercial members get interval data from Adams-Columbia Electric?▾
Log into SmartHub (https://acecwi.smarthub.coop/), open My Usage > Usage Explorer, select kWh, kW, or both, and click Green Button Download My Data at the bottom of the page. Choose your date range and CSV format — you get a zipped CSV with 15-minute interval data covering roughly 12-14 months.
Does ACEC support Green Button Connect My Data for automated third-party access?▾
No. ACEC implements only Green Button Download My Data (manual CSV export). There is no CMD authorization portal, OAuth flow, or API — consultants must work from customer-exported CSVs, ideally on a monthly export routine for ongoing projects.
What rate options should C&I customers evaluate at ACEC?▾
Beyond standard General Service (GS), ACEC offers an optional Schedule GS-TOD time-of-day rate with on-peak, mid-peak, and off-peak pricing by season. Facilities that can shift load off-peak can cut costs; SmartHub lets you monitor usage by period to validate the switch. Rate details are at https://www.acecwi.com/time-of-day/.
Does ACEC offer EDI or an API for billing data?▾
No formal EDI program or public API is documented. ACEC's NISC backend may support EDI internally, but nothing is exposed to trading partners. Email acec@acecwi.com with a trading partner inquiry to confirm — expect 5-10 business days and, realistically, a manual-workflow answer.
How can an energy consultant access an ACEC member's data?▾
The reliable path is customer-mediated: have the member export the full Green Button CSV history and billing PDFs from SmartHub and share them securely under a data processing agreement. For utility-delivered data, the member sends written authorization to ACEC (P.O. Box 70, Friendship, WI 53934) naming your firm; format and turnaround vary.
Where are ACEC's rate schedules published?▾
As a cooperative, ACEC sets rates through its board rather than PSC tariff filings. Summaries live at https://www.acecwi.com/billing/rate-info/ and the time-of-day rate at https://www.acecwi.com/time-of-day/. The OpenEI U.S. Utility Rate Database also documents 21 ACEC rates in a standardized, machine-readable format.
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