JFWIW, not *all* power companies have that kind of fee structure -- in fact, some have gone to the opposite (the intelligent way) in an effort to get people to reduce peak demand, as an alternative to an otherwise-burdened power company having to build more generating stations. So it depends where you live.
It seems to me it would be worth writing to all your congresspeople and also trying to get the local paper interested in doing a story on the subject. Now is probably a fairly vulnerable time for that kind of policies, if enough of the right people were to put pressure and publicity in the right places. It can't hurt anyhow.
I wonder if there are other things you might do to reduce the burden on your a/c? You don't mention where you live? But even if you "have to" run the a/c 24/7 (which in poorly designed modern houses in very hot, esp. humid, areas may in fact be the case), every bit that you can reduce the am't of heat coming into the house's living space means less work for the a/c and thus lower power bills.
First, if you don't have ceiling fans get them if at all possible (i.e. unless you have very low ceilings). If your ceilings are just way too low, then strategically placed "regular fans", especially good-sized tabletop-type units aimed straight up at the ceiling or as close to that as you can get it, will let you keep the thermostat set several - perhaps a good number - of degrees warmer.
Second, try to increase your attic ventilation as much as possible. Extra vents, even a power fan -- the fan will not use very much current at all and a cooler attic takes a lot of load off your house a/c which DOES suck down current hand over fist.
Third, shade the outside of the house if possible. Awnings for windows might be a good investment if you don't have them. Plant fast-growing trees on the S and W side of the house, unless there are hurricane type issues. And actually, it is AMAZING (to me anyhow) what you can do with ordinary shadecloth from the garden center. It is pretty cheap (I believe I paid like $2 per running foot for 12' wide 70% shadecloth) and, strung up over the parts of your windows that the sun hits, or stapled to a wooden frame braced in front of your windows (that's what I do for our sliding glass doors), it will DRASTICALLY reduce the amount of sun hitting your windows. Reducing sun hitting the outside of your windows makes MUCH MUCH more benefit to your household temperature 'budget' than just putting drapes on the insides of the windows (although of course that helps too).
Fourth, get a coupla good window fans - or if you can afford the investment and your climate makes it sensible get a whole-house fan (giant huge fan that mounts into your ceiling and when sucked on WHOOOOOSHES air in your windows and out thru the attic). Use them EVERY time the air temperature drops below whatever you consider your maximum thermostat setting for comfort. So if you have the thermostat set at 76 F (could prolly be higher with fans on), get in the habit of looking at the outdoor (shade) thermometer as frequently as possible, and every time it drops to 75 F or lower, turn off the a/c, open the windows and turn on the fans. There are strategic ways of doing this, too, e.g. suck air in from the coolest side of the house (often the E side) and have it going *out* on a side that is still somewhat hot outside. Keep the fans running even if you get cool (put on more clothes
) - they will cool off the 'bones' of your house to offset more heat for longer, once things get hot again outside.
Best wishes,
Pat
un
