Demand charges · NeoShift, NeoCore and NeoPilot
Lower your demand charges
A few minutes of peak demand can set a large part of your monthly bill. We analyse your load, show you what causes the peaks, and, with your approval, coordinate HVAC, heating and mechanical loads to reduce them. Your building systems stay in control of safety and comfort.
Why is my demand charge so high when my equipment works fine?
A BC Hydro demand charge is set by the single highest demand interval in the billing period, not by total energy use. Under Large General Service the charge is $13.83 per kW of billing demand per month, and demand is averaged over an interval of not more than 30 minutes (BC Hydro Rate Schedule 1600). Under Medium General Service it is $6.07 per kW (Rate Schedule 1500). FortisBC bills $15.06 per kW above the first 40 kW under Commercial Service (Rate Schedule 21) and $12.18 per kVA under Large Commercial Service (Rate Schedule 30), and 75% of the highest demand of the previous 11 months sets a floor on billing demand.
Peak demand in most buildings comes from coincidence. A chiller stages up as the afternoon warms, air handlers load and a large pump starts, all in the same half hour. Each controller is right on its own terms. None of them knows what the others are doing, so the building pays all month for that moment.
NeoShift is designed to close that gap: it sees the whole site and coordinates the loads so they stop peaking together, while each piece of equipment keeps its own controls. How BC Hydro demand charges work · How FortisBC demand charges work
Free Demand Assessment
We review your interval data and bills, identify what drives your peak demand, and give you a clear report with options. No software fees and no obligation. If on-site metering is needed, you pay only for the hardware, installed by a licensed electrical contractor.
What we need from you
- 12 to 24 months of BC Hydro or FortisBC bills or interval data
- A short list of major equipment
- A contact who knows the building
What you get
- When your peaks happen, and why
- Which loads coincide to set them
- Options with the arithmetic shown
- Whether NeoShift is a fit, or not
How it works
Assess, Recommend, then Automate, with your sign-off between steps 2 and 3.
Assess
Read-only. We study your bills and interval data, and, if useful, read live data through NeoCore. No commands are sent.Recommend
A report with options for your site: which loads to coordinate, when, and what each option is worth on your tariff.Automate, with sign-off
If you choose to go ahead, NeoShift runs the plan you signed, within your limits. Operators can override at any time.
| Aspect | 1. Assess | 2. Recommend | 3. Automate, with sign-off |
|---|---|---|---|
| What NeoTechX does | Reviews your interval data and bills. Reads data only; sends no commands. | Delivers a report: when peaks occurred, which loads coincided, which options could avoid them and what each is worth. | NeoShift adjusts supervisory setpoints automatically, within the limits you approved. |
| What you do | Send bills or interval data, or allow read-only metering. | Review the options. Act on them yourself, or choose to automate. | Sign off the plan and limits in writing. Your operators can override at any time. |
| Cost | No software fee. Metering hardware only if needed. | No software fee. | Shared savings, indicatively 30–40% of measured savings, agreed per site. |
| Effect on operations | None: read-only | None: read-only | Designed to be bounded by guardrails, self-expiring writes and fail-safe handback |
| Status | Available | Available | Pilot |
Between steps 2 and 3: your written sign-off.
Which loads does NeoShift coordinate?
The equipment you already have. No battery and no new plant are needed to start.
HVAC and air handling
Chillers and refrigeration
Heating and heat pumps
Pumps
Compressors and process loads
Your systems stay in charge
How do NeoShift, NeoCore and NeoPilot fit together?
NeoShift prepares the plan in Canadian-hosted services, from your data and your tariff. About NeoShift
NeoCore Edge Runtime executes it on site and keeps working if the connection is lost. About NeoCore
NeoPilot is the window your team uses to see demand and approve changes. Already have a BMS? We can send the data there instead. About NeoPilot
Pay from savings
After the assessment, NeoShift can run on a shared-savings basis: a share of the measured savings, indicatively 30–40%, agreed per site against a baseline we define with you. If there are no savings, there is no shared-savings fee.
Savings are measured against the agreed baseline, net of any extra energy the coordination causes. Site hardware such as a meter is quoted separately. All terms are set in each customer agreement.
| If billing demand were lower by | Rate | Over 12 billing periods | Shared-savings fee at 30–40% | You keep |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 kW, Large General Service | $13.83/kW-month (RS 1600) | $165.96 | $49.79–$66.38 | $99.58–$116.17 |
| 1 kW, Medium General Service | $6.07/kW-month (RS 1500) | $72.84 | $21.85–$29.14 | $43.70–$50.99 |
| 100 kW, Large General Service | $13.83/kW-month (RS 1600) | $16,596 | $4,979–$6,638 | $9,958–$11,617 |
This table multiplies BC Hydro's published demand rate by a number of kilowatts. It does not predict or guarantee what NeoShift or any system will achieve at your site, and it is not a quote or an offer. Whether any reduction is possible, and how large, is what the assessment measures on your own data.
What the tariff arithmetic does not show
A lower billing demand in a month requires the lower demand to hold in every interval of that month; one interval above it sets the month's billing demand.
Medium and Large General Service bills carry a monthly minimum charge: 50% of the highest demand charge billed in any billing period wholly within November 1 to March 31 during the preceding 11 billing periods. A winter peak therefore sets a floor that can limit what a lower demand is worth in later months. The assessment checks this floor for your site.
What happens if something goes wrong?
NeoShift is designed to work above your control system, not inside it. Every write is time-bounded and designed to revert on its own, a rule-based guardrail with no model inside it can veto any command, and an operator change is designed to make NeoShift stand down at once. If NeoCore stops, written setpoints expire and equipment returns to its own control.
Self-expiring writes
Operator first
Rule-based guardrail
Not in series
Design principle
If NeoCore stops, written setpoints expire and equipment returns to its own control.
Describes the design; site behaviour depends on the agreed plan and equipment.
What is available today, and what is in pilot?
| Capability | Status |
|---|---|
| Free Demand Assessment from bills and interval data | Available |
| Site connectivity and data acquisition (NeoCore) | Available |
| Recommendations report with options and arithmetic | Available |
| Automated coordination by NeoShift, after sign-off | Pilot |
| Forecasting and AI-assisted insights (no model field-approved) | In development |
| Automated measurement and verification, IPMVP-aligned (manual and open meanwhile) | In development |
Which buildings and facilities is this for?
| Facility | Loads that often coincide | Buffer NeoShift can use |
|---|---|---|
| Office and commercial buildings | Chillers, rooftop units, air handlers | Building thermal mass, comfort bands |
| Private schools and hotels | Heating, hot water, kitchen and laundry loads | Hot-water storage, building thermal mass |
| Local shopping centres | Rooftop units, refrigeration cases, lighting | Thermal mass, refrigeration bands |
| Workshops and small plants | Compressors, process heating, extraction fans | Compressed-air receivers, process schedules |
| Municipal buildings, arenas and pools | Ice-plant compressors, dehumidification, pool heating | Ice slab and pool thermal mass |
| Water and wastewater pump stations | Lift and booster pumps | Reservoir, wet-well and tank levels |
| Farms, greenhouses and agricultural facilities | Irrigation pumps, ventilation fans, refrigeration, greenhouse heating, grain drying | Irrigation schedules and storage, product cooling, greenhouse thermal mass |
Which sites qualify?
A good fit
- BC Hydro Medium General Service (35 to under 150 kW) or Large General Service (150 kW and over)
- FortisBC Commercial Service (RS 21, over 40 kW) or Large Commercial Service (RS 30)
- Equipment with a digital control layer (a BMS or controllers with an interface)
- A buffer: thermal mass, storage or a schedule with some flexibility
- Controllable load that is a meaningful share of the peak
Not a fit today
- No digital control layer, or no safe way for an asset to return to normal
- A peak set by a load that cannot move, or setpoints that must never move
- The same equipment already controlled by another party
- A need for sub-second response
A site that does not qualify still gets its assessment report, showing what coordination would be worth if the constraint were removed.
Frequently asked questions
What is NeoShift?
NeoShift is a demand optimization service from NeoTechX, a Canadian company based in Victoria, BC. NeoShift coordinates HVAC, heating and mechanical loads a facility already has so they stop peaking together, which is designed to lower the demand charge on the electricity bill. Plans are prepared in the cloud and executed on site by NeoCore Edge Runtime. NeoShift is in pilot.
Why is my demand charge so high when my equipment works fine?
A demand charge on a BC Hydro or FortisBC bill is set by the highest demand in the billing period, not by total energy use. Peaks usually come from coincidence: a chiller stages up, air handlers load and a pump starts in the same half hour. Each controller is right on its own terms, but none knows what the others are doing, so the facility pays all month for that moment. On FortisBC Commercial and Large Commercial rates, 75% of that peak also sets a floor for the next 11 months.
What does the Free Demand Assessment include?
The NeoTechX Free Demand Assessment reviews 12 to 24 months of a site's interval data and bills, identifies what drives its peak demand, and delivers a clear report with options. There are no software fees and no obligation. If on-site metering is needed, the customer pays only for the hardware, installed by a licensed electrical contractor.
Does NeoShift control my equipment from day one?
No. The assessment and recommendation steps are read-only: NeoTechX reads data and reports, and sends no commands. NeoShift automates only after the facility team has seen the evidence and signed off a written plan listing which equipment may be adjusted, within which limits, and how each asset returns to normal.
What do I approve before NeoShift automates anything?
The customer signs a written plan listing the equipment NeoShift may adjust, the setpoints and ranges it may write, the limits it must respect and how each asset returns to normal if anything fails. Supervised step tests on one asset at a time, with the customer's operator present, come first, so the plan rests on measured responses.
How much does NeoShift cost?
The Free Demand Assessment has no software fee. After the assessment, NeoShift can run on a shared-savings basis: a share of the measured savings, indicatively 30% to 40%, agreed per site against a baseline defined with the customer. If there are no savings, there is no shared-savings fee. Site hardware such as a meter is quoted separately.
Do I need a battery or new equipment?
No. NeoShift coordinates the loads a facility already has, using the buffers already there, such as the thermal mass of a building, a cold store or an ice slab, or the volume of a reservoir. No new plant is needed for the assessment.
What happens if the connection or NeoCore fails?
NeoShift plans are executed on site by NeoCore, which keeps working if the internet connection is lost. NeoCore is not wired in series with any control path, and every setpoint it writes is designed to expire or be reverted, so that if NeoCore stops, equipment returns to its own control.
Is NeoShift a cybersecurity risk to my building network?
During the assessment NeoCore only reads data, and its network access is agreed with the customer's IT team. When automating, NeoCore may write only the specific points agreed at commissioning. The planned connection design, which is In development, starts every connection from the site, listens on no port and offers no vendor remote-access path.
Does NeoShift use artificial intelligence?
AI-assisted forecasting and insights are in development and being validated in the pilot; no AI or machine-learning model is approved for field use today. The rule-based guardrail that can veto every command contains no model.
Where is the data stored?
NeoShift is hosted exclusively in Canadian data centres, supporting BC public bodies' obligations under FOIPPA. Each public body remains responsible for its own privacy assessment, and retention and return of data are set in the customer agreement.
See what drives your demand charge.
Send us your bills or interval data. We show you what sets your peak and what could change it. No software fees, no obligation.
Sources
- BC Hydro Electric Tariff, Rate Schedules 1500, 1600 and 1830, rates effective April 1, 2026; Terms and Conditions section 7.2
- FortisBC Inc. Electric Tariff, Rate Schedules 21 and 30 and Terms and Conditions section 9.4, rates effective January 1, 2026
- NeoTechX service catalogue v4.3, section 5; positioning strategy and commercial model, 2026-10-11
This page describes NeoTechX products and services and how they are designed. It is not an offer, warranty or guarantee of results. Capabilities marked Pilot or In development may change. Fees, performance and data-handling terms are set only in a signed agreement.