North Little Rock Electric Department (NLRED) Rate Selection Guide
North Little Rock Electric Department (NLRED) is a consumer-owned municipal utility serving roughly 38,000-40,000 customers in North Little Rock and Sherwood, Arkansas. Commercial and industrial customers access billing and usage data through the NISC SmartHub My Account portal, with third-party access handled via a formal Account Holder Information Release Form rather than Green Button or EDI programs.
North Little Rock Electric Department (NLRED) Rate Schedule Comparison
| Schedule | Type | Rate | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small General Service (SGS) | commercial | Per published municipal tariff | Small commercial accounts |
| Large General Service (LGS) | commercial | Per published municipal tariff | Mid-size commercial facilities |
| Large Power Service (LPS) | industrial | Per published municipal tariff | Large industrial loads |
Market Overview
NLRED is a municipal electric utility serving North Little Rock and Sherwood under city ordinances, with no retail supplier choice. Net-metering and distributed generation are supported per Ordinance 9329.
Need to pull your actual usage data to compare rates? See the North Little Rock Electric Department (NLRED) Data Access Guide →
Current Rate Schedules
North Little Rock Electric's rates are set by city council ordinance (not the Arkansas PSC) and have been in effect since October 1, 2020. The C&I lineup runs Small General Service (SGS), Large General Service (LGS), Large Power Service (LPS), and an optional Large Customer Time-of-Use (LCTOU) schedule. All schedules carry a Power Cost Adjustment (PCA) rider per kWh, seasonal summer/winter pricing (June–September summer), 15-minute demand metering, and a 12-month demand ratchet billing the greater of current-month demand charges or $4.68/kW on the highest kW of the past twelve months. Rates are assigned by NLRED based on anticipated use and load — verify class fit at service application.
Effective: October 1, 2020 · Full Tariff Book →
| Schedule | Type | Applicability | Structure | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small General Service (SGS) | commercial | Small commercial accounts below LGS demand thresholds. | Customer charge plus seasonal energy charges and PCA rider; no separate demand charge. See tariff for current charges. | — |
| Large General Service (LGS) | commercial | Demand-metered commercial accounts; billing demand is the highest 15-minute kW (or kVA if low power factor is suspected). | $140.00 customer charge; demand charges of $15.00/kW summer (June–September) and $11.55/kW winter; energy charges of $0.0573/kWh summer and $0.0523/kWh winter, plus PCA. Minimum bill includes a $4.68/kW ratchet on the highest kW of the trailing twelve months. | $0.0523–$0.0573/kWh + PCA+ $15.00/kW summer; $11.55/kW winter; $4.68/kW 12-month ratchet minimum |
| Large Power Service (LPS) | industrial | The utility's largest industrial loads. | $140.00 customer charge; demand charges of $14.70/kW summer and $11.25/kW winter; energy charges of $0.0573/kWh summer and $0.0523/kWh winter, plus PCA rider. | $0.0523–$0.0573/kWh + PCA+ $14.70/kW summer; $11.25/kW winter |
| Large Customer Time-of-Use (LCTOU) | industrial | Large customers able to shift load off NLRED's on-peak windows. | $225.00 customer charge; summer on-peak demand $18.00/kW with excess kW at $6.28; winter on-peak $14.13/kW with excess at $5.73; energy from $0.04312/kWh (summer off-peak) to $0.05047/kWh (winter on-peak), plus PCA and a $4.68/kW twelve-month ratchet minimum. | $0.04312–$0.05047/kWh by period + PCA+ $18.00/kW summer on-peak; excess kW $6.28 (summer) / $5.73 (winter) |
Rate Recommendations by Use Case
Manufacturing and large industrial plants
Large industrial loads take LPS, with slightly lower demand charges than LGS ($14.70 vs $15.00 summer) and the same energy pricing.
Energy at 5.2–5.7¢/kWh is inexpensive; the bill leverage is in demand. Summer demand bills ~31% higher than winter, and the 15-minute metering window plus power factor provisions (kVA metering if PF is low) make peak and PF management both billable issues.
- Cap the 15-minute summer peak — each avoided kW saves $14.70–15.00/month June–September
- Maintain power factor above ~90%; NLRED can switch to kVA demand metering if low PF is suspected
- Model LCTOU with interval data — off-peak-heavy operations can cut both demand and energy unit costs
Large customers with shiftable or off-hours load
Operations running nights/weekends — distribution centers, data rooms, cold storage — should evaluate the optional LCTOU schedule.
LCTOU prices excess (off-peak) demand at just $6.28/kW summer versus $18.00 on-peak, and off-peak energy at $0.04312/kWh — the cheapest power on NLRED's books. Loads that keep on-peak kW low convert most demand cost into the cheap excess tier.
- Get NLRED's on-peak window definitions and schedule batch processes outside them
- Compare the $225 LCTOU customer charge and ratchet against projected savings before electing
- Remember the $4.68/kW twelve-month ratchet — one bad summer peak echoes for a year
Mid-size commercial — retail, offices, institutions
Demand-metered commercial buildings in North Little Rock and Sherwood bill under LGS with seasonal demand and energy charges.
The summer/winter differential ($15.00 vs $11.55/kW; $0.0573 vs $0.0523/kWh) concentrates cost in June–September afternoons — cooling management is the highest-value intervention. Accounts near the SGS/LGS boundary should confirm correct class assignment, since NLRED assigns rates from anticipated load at application.
- Pre-cool buildings before afternoon peaks; stage chillers to avoid coincident starts
- Notify NLRED Engineering in writing before adding load — they reassess capacity and rate class
- Audit the PCA rider line monthly; it floats with wholesale power costs
Cost Optimization Strategies
NLRED's October 2020 rate design concentrates cost in summer demand and enforces discipline through a 12-month ratchet and power factor provisions. The optimization playbook: control the 15-minute summer peak, exploit LCTOU's cheap off-peak tiers, keep power factor high, and track the PCA rider that floats on every kWh.
Summer 15-minute peak management
For: LGS and LPS accounts
Demand bills at $14.70–15.00/kW June–September versus $11.25–11.55 winter, set by the single highest 15-minute interval. Stagger equipment starts, stage chillers, and pre-cool to flatten afternoon peaks.
Ratchet-aware peak discipline
For: All demand-metered schedules
Minimum bills include $4.68/kW on the highest demand of the trailing twelve months — a single uncontrolled peak creates twelve months of cost. Treat peak events as annual liabilities, not monthly ones.
LCTOU schedule election
For: Large customers with flexible or off-hours load
Off-peak-weighted loads can elect LCTOU for $6.28/kW excess demand (summer) and $0.04312/kWh off-peak energy. Model against interval data; the $225 customer charge and on-peak exposure penalize daytime-peaking operations.
Power factor correction
For: Industrial facilities with large motor loads
NLRED may install kVA demand metering where low power factor is suspected, converting reactive power into billed demand. Capacitor banks on motor-heavy facilities keep billing on kW rather than inflated kVA.
PCA rider tracking and load-growth planning
For: All C&I accounts
The Power Cost Adjustment floats per kWh on every schedule — separate it in bill audits. Before expansions, notify NLRED Engineering in writing; they determine required improvements, customer-paid costs, and the appropriate rate, so early engagement avoids misassignment.
To implement these strategies, you need your 15-minute interval data. Learn how to download North Little Rock Electric Department (NLRED) interval data →
Frequently Asked Questions
How do commercial customers access billing and usage data from North Little Rock Electric?▾
Log in to the My Account portal at https://nlr.smarthub.coop/ (built on NISC SmartHub). The Billing and Usage tabs show current and historical bills plus hourly/daily usage graphs, with multiple years of history. Mobile apps for iOS and Android offer the same access.
How can an energy consultant or aggregator get authorized access to a customer's NLRED data?▾
Have the customer complete the Account Holder Information Release Form at https://nlred.formstack.com/forms/foia_account_release, naming your organization as the authorized party. NLRED then releases account information, billing history, and usage data to your email. Arkansas privacy law requires explicit authorization for individual customer data.
Does NLRED support Green Button or a public API?▾
No. NLRED has no Green Button Download My Data or Connect My Data certification and publishes no API or developer portal. The only programmatic path is an unsupported, reverse-engineered NISC SmartHub API that exposes about a year of 15-minute interval data using customer credentials — not recommended for production use.
Is interval (smart meter) data available for C&I facilities?▾
NLRED has deployed AMI smart meters that collect interval data, and the portal shows hourly/daily usage graphs, but there is no formal interval download program. For granular interval exports, contact NLRED at (501) 975-8888 or CustServ@NLR.AR.GOV to request a custom data export.
Does NLRED offer EDI for billing or usage data?▾
No public EDI trading partner program exists. NLRED publishes no specifications for 814, 867, 810, or 820 transaction sets. Its NISC billing platform supports EDI in some deployments, so direct inquiry to NLRED is the only path for EDI access.
What rate schedules apply to commercial and industrial customers?▾
NLRED publishes Small General Service (SGS), Large General Service (LGS), and Large Power Service (LPS) tariffs at https://nlrelectric.com/rates/. As a municipal utility, rates are set by city ordinance rather than the Arkansas PSC, and there is no competitive supplier choice.
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