How Dual Fuel and Electric Thermal Storage Work
From an article published by OEC: Dual Fuel means you have two heat sources for your home heating needs. One heat source is electricity and the other heat source is some type of fossil fuel (typically propane, natural gas or fuel oil). The electric heat is the primary heat source and when OEC must reduce the electric demand, the co-op will shut off your electric heat system and your fossil fuel system must automatically take over heating your home.

Electric Thermal Storage (ETS) converts electricity to heat during periods of low demand and then stores that heat in a dense material, either high-density ceramic brick, concrete or other dense flooring material. The heat is released during periods of high demand when OEC must manage the load. This type of heat system can be part of the dual fuel program as a stand-alone unit or can be used as the back-up heat system instead of fossil fuel.

With either Dual Fuel or Electric Thermal Storage, OEC has the ability to shut off this electric load when demand is high, so we can offer a special rate for the electric heat. The Dual Fuel rate is $0.049 per kilowatt-hour which is less than half of the regular residential rate. In each case a special metering package is required. The metering package can be purchased from OEC and will be installed by your electrician or heating contractor. The final connection and inspection is done by OEC.

Other Benefits
Once you have a heating system on the dual fuel rate, you can add other 240-volt appliances to this rate. Items such as electric water heaters, clothes dryers, hot tubs, etc may be added to this rate. All appliances on the rate will be shut off during periods of high demand. Check with OEC for specific qualifications.

• Electric Boilers – If you have an existing fossil fuel boiler, adding an electric boiler to the system will allow you to take advantage of OEC’s Dual Fuel rate. The electric boiler is installed in sequence with your fossil fuel boiler and becomes your primary heat source. During high demand periods, OEC will manage the load by shutting off the electric boiler and allowing the fossil fuel boiler to heat your home.