ComEd Time-of-Day Pricing: Four Fixed Windows, Every Day of the Year
ComEd Time-of-Day Pricing bills Chicago-area households on four fixed price windows that repeat every single day of the year. Unlike ComEd Hourly Pricing, where the price changes hour to hour and is published fresh each afternoon, Time-of-Day Pricing has a schedule you can learn once: the same four windows, the same order, 365 days a year.
ComEd serves Chicago, Cook County, and the rest of northern Illinois, and Time-of-Day Pricing is one of two variable-rate options the utility offers alongside its flat standard rate. It prices both supply and delivery by time of day, and it rewards moving flexible load out of one specific stretch: the afternoon and early-evening Mid-Day Peak.
This guide covers the four windows, what each one costs by season and rate class, how the plan compares to Hourly Pricing and to Delivery Time-of-Day, and how Hungry Machines automates around it.
The four windows
Time-of-Day Pricing splits every day into four fixed periods (per ComEd’s Time-of-Day Pricing program page and the Citizens Utility Board’s TOD Q&A, March–August 2026):
| Window | Hours |
|---|---|
| Morning | 6 a.m. – 1 p.m. |
| Mid-Day Peak | 1 p.m. – 7 p.m. |
| Evening | 7 p.m. – 9 p.m. |
| Overnight | 9 p.m. – 6 a.m. |
These windows run identically every day — no weekday/weekend split, no holiday exception. The only calendar-driven change is the price level itself, which shifts between a summer season (June 1–September 30) and a non-summer season (October 1–May 31).
What each window costs: supply
The supply price is uniform for every Time-of-Day customer, regardless of rate class:
| Window | Summer (Jun 1 – Sep 30) | Non-summer (Oct 1 – May 31) |
|---|---|---|
| Morning | 3.778¢/kWh | 4.768¢/kWh |
| Mid-Day Peak | 16.594¢/kWh | 14.699¢/kWh |
| Evening | 5.793¢/kWh | 6.009¢/kWh |
| Overnight | 2.829¢/kWh | 3.394¢/kWh |
Mid-Day Peak is the most expensive window in both seasons by a wide margin — roughly four times the overnight price in summer, and more than four times it in winter. It also runs longest of the four windows behind Morning, so it covers a meaningful share of a typical afternoon and evening.
What each window costs: delivery
Time-of-Day Pricing also varies your delivery (distribution facility) charge by window, and the exact rate depends on your class — single-family or multi-family, standard or electric heat. These delivery rates hold year-round; only supply splits by season:
| Class | Standard (flat) | Morning | Mid-Day Peak | Evening | Overnight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single-family, non-electric heat | 6.228¢ | 4.009¢ | 10.712¢ | 3.747¢ | 2.984¢ |
| Multi-family, non-electric heat | 4.791¢ | 3.073¢ | 8.689¢ | 2.856¢ | 2.251¢ |
| Single-family, electric heat | 3.165¢ | 1.999¢ | 5.329¢ | 1.890¢ | 1.550¢ |
| Multi-family, electric heat | 2.996¢ | 1.925¢ | 4.975¢ | 1.823¢ | 1.512¢ |
Electric-heat homes carry a lower delivery charge across every window than their non-electric-heat counterparts, reflecting their higher year-round electric usage. In every class, Mid-Day Peak delivery costs roughly two-and-a-half to three times the standard flat rate, and more than three times the overnight window’s rate.
Combine the two tables — supply plus delivery, by class and season — and a single-family, non-electric-heat home pays 27.306¢/kWh at summer Mid-Day Peak versus 5.813¢/kWh overnight, a nearly fivefold spread inside one day (CUB factsheet, March 2026).
How it compares to Hourly Pricing
Both are variable ComEd rates, and both reward moving flexible load to cheaper hours. The difference is in the shape of that variability:
- Time-of-Day Pricing has four price levels, fixed in advance, that repeat every day. You always know Mid-Day Peak is expensive — no need to check a published curve first.
- Hourly Pricing has a new wholesale price for all 24 hours, published the afternoon before. There’s no fixed window, because the shape of the curve genuinely changes day to day — a cheap 2 a.m. tonight might be a different price tomorrow.
Time-of-Day trades some of Hourly Pricing’s day-to-day upside for predictability. A household that wants to “set it and mostly forget it” fits Time-of-Day well; a household chasing the largest possible daily swings gets more of that from Hourly Pricing.
How it compares to Delivery Time-of-Day
It’s easy to conflate these two, since both put “Time-of-Day” in the name and both touch the delivery charge:
- Time-of-Day Pricing (this plan) prices both supply and delivery by the same four windows, using one of the four rate classes above. It replaces your entire ComEd bill’s pricing structure.
- Delivery Time-of-Day changes only the delivery charge to the same four-window structure, while your supply stays whatever it already is — the flat standard rate, or Hourly Pricing. It’s the option for someone who wants Hourly Pricing’s supply savings and a time-varying delivery charge, without switching to full Time-of-Day.
A home is on one or the other, not both — full Time-of-Day Pricing already includes the delivery structure that Delivery Time-of-Day exists to add on top of the flat rate or Hourly Pricing.
Program rules
- Full Time-of-Day Pricing covers both supply and delivery. It cannot be combined with Hourly Pricing, an alternative electricity supplier, or ComEd’s flat standard supply rate.
- Homes with legacy net-metering solar interconnected before January 1, 2025 aren’t eligible for this plan.
- Enrollment and cancellation follow ComEd’s standard process for its variable rate programs (see ComEd’s Time-of-Day Pricing page for current enrollment details).
How Hungry Machines helps
Pick your ComEd Time-of-Day plan — matching your home type and heating — in Settings, and Hungry Machines builds a nightly schedule around the four fixed windows instead of a curve that changes daily. Because Mid-Day Peak (1–7 p.m.) is always the expensive stretch on this plan, the optimizer consistently shifts HVAC pre-cooling or pre-heating, EV charging, battery charging, and water heating off that window and toward Morning or Overnight, within the comfort limits you set.
You choose the plan and the comfort band; the schedule adapts inside them every night. Nothing runs outside the limits you set, and you can override any slot at any time.
Common questions
Do the Time-of-Day windows change on weekends or holidays?
No. All four windows run on the same clock every day of the year, including weekends and holidays — no weekday/weekend split, no holiday relaxation. The only calendar-driven change is the price level, which shifts between the summer and non-summer seasons for the same four windows.
How is Time-of-Day Pricing different from Hourly Pricing?
Time-of-Day Pricing has four fixed price levels that repeat every day, so the schedule can be learned once. Hourly Pricing has a brand-new wholesale price for all 24 hours, published fresh each afternoon for the next day — there’s no fixed window, because the curve’s shape genuinely changes daily. Time-of-Day trades some of Hourly Pricing’s day-to-day savings potential for predictability.
Can I add Delivery Time-of-Day on top of this plan?
No, and there’s no need to. Time-of-Day Pricing already prices delivery by time of day as part of the plan. Delivery Time-of-Day is a separate option for customers on a different supply rate — flat standard or Hourly Pricing — who want just the delivery charge to vary by time.
Which of the four Time-of-Day plans is mine?
ComEd sorts customers into one of four rate classes: single-family or multi-family, each with a standard or an electric-heat version, set by your home type and primary heating source. Your ComEd bill or account page states your class. In Hungry Machines, pick the plan matching your home when you select ComEd Time-of-Day Pricing.
Next steps
Want the largest possible daily swings instead of four fixed windows? ComEd Hourly Pricing prices every hour at the wholesale rate, published the afternoon before. Already on Hourly Pricing or the flat rate and only want your delivery charge to vary by time? Delivery Time-of-Day does just that. And ComEd Peak Time Savings is a separate rebate that stacks with Time-of-Day Pricing on hot summer event days.
To let your home react to ComEd’s Time-of-Day windows automatically, see how Hungry Machines works and sign up now.