Demand charges jumped 300%, is this normal?

Hi everyone, hoping for some clarity here.

I moved a small 6U deployment to a new market (southeast US) with KnownHost in June. July bill arrived and demand charges went from ~$180 to $540. Facility says this is "normal summer ratchet." I have never seen this before—my previous provider in the northeast apparently absorbed this silently?

• 6U, dual EPYC 7402, ~400W average draw
• Previous host: flat blended rate, no line-item demand
• New host: pass-through utility billing, NERC-compliant metering
• No changes to workload—same VMs, same traffic patterns

Is 300% jump typical? Did I get spoiled before? And did you test your restore this month? Remember 3-2-1 rule, even when billing surprises strike.

Ratchet. Classic. Previous provider ate cost. New one honest. Perkele.

Demand charge = peak draw × rate × 12 months. One hot afternoon = penalty all year.

Server good. Price bad. Network okay.

@bellaauc This is INSANE VALUE... for the utility company!

No but seriously, ratchet clauses are brutal! Your previous provider probably blended it into higher base rate! Ampere chips would help here—lower peak draw, same performance! Altra Max runs circles around those EPYCs on watts! I have a 1U with 128 cores pulling 180W peak! Insane value for avoiding demand spikes!

Check if your contract has monthly or annual ratchet! Some reset January! Others lock you for 12 months from peak! Very important distinction!