DemandGuard

DemandGuard Plan

DemandGuard is Grid Getter’s most powerful automation type. It watches your live grid draw every minute during demand periods and automatically discharges your battery to keep you under your target demand threshold — protecting you from the expensive demand charges that utilities bill based on your peak usage.

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What is a demand charge?

Some utility rate plans include a demand charge — a fee based on the highest 15- or 30-minute average power draw recorded during your billing period. A single afternoon of high usage (air conditioning + EV charging + appliances running simultaneously) can spike your bill for the entire month.

DemandGuard prevents those spikes by acting in real time: the moment your grid draw approaches your target, it switches your home to battery power.

Tip

Not sure if your utility has demand charges? Check your electricity bill for a line item labeled “demand,” “peak demand,” or “kW charge” that’s separate from your kWh usage charge. Many commercial and some residential customers in certain states pay demand charges.

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How DemandGuard works

DemandGuard runs continuously during your configured peak window. Each check:

1. Reads your current live power data from Tesla
2. Calculates your grid draw relative to your target threshold
3. If you’re approaching or exceeding the threshold, switches to battery power
4. Continues monitoring until the demand interval resets or the window closes

DemandGuard optimizes battery discharge across the entire demand window — not just in the moment — so your battery lasts as long as possible through the period.

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Create a DemandGuard automation

1. Go to Automations and click + Add Automation

2. Select the DemandGuard tab

3. Give your automation a name

4. Set your Target Demand — the maximum kW grid draw you want to maintain (e.g., 8 kW)

5. Set the Demand Interval — how often your utility measures demand (usually 15 or 30 minutes — check your bill)

6. Set the monitoring window:

   • Start Time: when demand monitoring begins
   • End Time: when it stops

7. Configure optional settings:

   • Battery Reserve: minimum % to keep in reserve during demand periods
   • Respect Storm Watch: if on, DemandGuard pauses when Storm Watch is active (recommended)
   • Surplus Generation: what to do with excess solar during demand management

8. Set the schedule — days of week and months that match your utility’s demand period schedule

9. Click Create Automation

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Settings reference

Setting	What it does	Default
Name	Label for this automation	Required
Description	Optional note	Empty
Target Demand (kW)	Maximum grid draw to maintain	10 kW
Demand Interval	How often your utility measures demand	30 min
Start Time	When monitoring begins	16:00 (4 PM)
End Time	When monitoring ends	21:00 (9 PM)
Battery Reserve	Minimum battery % to keep during demand period	Off
Respect Storm Watch	Pause DemandGuard if Storm Watch activates	On
Surplus Generation	Where excess solar goes during demand management	Send to Grid
Days of Week	Which days it runs	Mon–Fri
Months	Which months it’s active	All months

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Choosing the right Target Demand

Your target demand should be set below the threshold that would trigger a demand charge tier change on your utility bill.

• Check your bill for the demand tier thresholds (e.g., “0–10 kW: $X/kW, 10+ kW: $Y/kW”)
• Set your target 1–2 kW below the tier boundary to give DemandGuard room to act before you breach it
• For most residential customers with a Powerwall, a target of 6–10 kW works well as a starting point

Caution

Setting Target Demand too low (e.g., 2 kW) may cause your battery to discharge rapidly, depleting it before the demand period ends. Start conservative and adjust based on your Activity Log.

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Demand Interval setting

The demand interval tells DemandGuard how your utility measures peak demand. This should match your actual utility billing:

• 15 minutes — most common for commercial accounts in the US
• 30 minutes — common for some residential TOU plans
• 60 minutes — less common, used by some utilities

Getting this right matters: DemandGuard uses the interval to optimize how aggressively it discharges your battery across the demand window.

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Surplus Generation options

During demand management, your solar panels may still be producing more power than your home needs. You have three options for where that surplus goes:

Option	What happens
Send to Grid (default)	Surplus solar exports to the grid. You may earn net metering credits.
Store in Battery	Surplus charges your battery instead of exporting. Useful if grid export rates are low or zero.
No Action	Grid Getter doesn’t control surplus — Tesla handles it according to its own logic.

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Storm Watch interaction

When Respect Storm Watch is enabled (the default), DemandGuard pauses automatically if Tesla’s Storm Watch feature activates. Storm Watch charges your battery to 100% for emergency preparedness — if DemandGuard tried to discharge it at the same time, they’d conflict.

If you don’t want Storm Watch to ever interfere with DemandGuard (e.g., you’re in a low-storm-risk area), you can disable “Respect Storm Watch.” This lets DemandGuard run even when Storm Watch is active.

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DemandGuard performance log

Every decision DemandGuard makes is logged. Go to Activity Log → DemandGuard Decisions to review:

• When DemandGuard activated during demand periods
• What your grid draw was at each check
• What action was taken
• Whether your target was maintained

This is the best way to verify DemandGuard is working and to tune your Target Demand setting.

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Plan requirements

DemandGuard automations require a DemandGuard subscription tier. This is separate from (and in addition to) Premium.

See Subscription Tiers for pricing.