Our electric provider here in North Reading, Reading Municipal Light Department (RMLD) (http://www.rmld.com/), offers time-of-use and net metering as two alternative electricity tariffs to the standard flat rate. If your electric provider has these two options, how could you determine if either or both of these options would reduce your electric bill? Net metering is typically used by people that are generating as well as consuming electricity, for instance if you had a solar photovoltaic system. If you had solar you would very likely already have net metering, without a meter that supported net metering your solar system could be generating power and you wouldn't receive any credit for it. Time-of-use (TOU) tariffs vary electric rates based on time of day. TOU rates are commonly used by electric companies to help shape electric demand by increasing the cost of electricity during some periods and discounting it during others. Discounts for off-peak usage can result in the move...