  To accommodate the changes in the nature and pattern of electricity
consumption with the available resources, utility companies have introduced a
variety of rate structures over the years. This paper develops a comprehensive
optimization method that addresses the diversity of utility rate structure of a
commercial building. It includes a general set of constraints that can be used
for any system with a building load, a renewable source, and a battery energy
storage system (BESS). A cost function is formulated for each type of rate
structure that can be exercised by a utility on a commercial building. A novel
algorithm is developed to apply the optimization model and generate the desired
optimal outputs by using the appropriate cost function. The results for several
building loads and rate structure types were obtained and compared. A
sensitivity analysis was done on the optimization model based on the changes in
the rates using historical data. The results exhibit that adding BESS is more
effective for buildings with lower load factor and CPP rate structures in
comparison to the buildings with flat energy rates. Savings from adding
renewables such as solar is primarily influenced by energy charges whereas
additional benefits from BESS are dominated by demand charges. These results
can help a customer with deciding on the different rate structure options and
resource planning of their renewable generation and energy storage. Utilities
may also benefit from this work by designing a unified rate structure,
considering the increasing renewable penetration and BESS deployment in the
grid.

Systems and Control;Systems and Control