Levelized Billing and Bank Draft
Frequently Asked Questions:
Levelized Billing provides you with a way to guard against large fluctuations in your monthly electric bill, without ever having to play “catch-up” at the end of the year. The program is designed to keep your electric bills affordable every month of the year, as long as you remain on the plan. Levelized Billing is the ideal way to accurately anticipate your monthly electric bill, which makes budgeting easier for you.
Levelized Billing takes the worry and surprise out of opening your monthly electric bill. With this simple program, your monthly electric bill becomes a rolling average of your electric usage for the most recent 12 months. For example, this month’s bill would be the average electric usage of the previous 11 months, plus the current month. Levelized Billing uses a “rolling average” so your monthly bill will change only slightly from month to month. By averaging your changes in usage over a 12-month period, your bill will remain fairly consistent, even in very cold or hot months when usage may be unusually high. The only time you have to reconcile your account is when you leave the Tri-County Electric system, when you decide you no longer want to participate in Levelized Billing or when you no longer qualify for the program.
You can participate in Levelized Billing if you have an acceptable payment history, you have been a member of Tri-County Electric for one (1)consecutive year at same location, have signed up for bank draft, and you keep your Levelized Billing account current. We do not permit solar members to enroll in levelized billing.
Levelized Billing is very different from Budget Billing. Because a “rolling average” method is used, your amount due will vary from month to month. Although Levelized Billing can help take the shock out of your electric bill during extremely cold or hot weather, your electric bill will not be the exact same amount each month.
Levelized Billing is free for the members of Tri-County Electric. There is no sign up fee or monthly service charges. All that is required is that you keep your account current. In order to keep your account up-to-date, you pay only the amount due indicated on your bill. Paying more or less than the amount indicated could cause confusion with your account. As long as you stay current and pay only the amount indicated, your account will remain in good standing. If you¹re interested in Levelized Billing, simply contact your Tri-County Electric office.
The Bank Draft Program from Tri-County Electric makes paying your electric bill easier than ever. When you sign up for Bank Draft, Tri-County Electric will automatically draft your checking account for the amount of your monthly electric bill. You’ll still receive monthly statements showing kilowatt-hour usage and the amount due, but with Bank Draft, you won’t have to write a check ever! And your payments will be made on time, every time.
With the Bank Draft Program, you’ll never have to remember to pay your bill. And since you’ll receive a monthly statement, you can easily keep track of what was drafted out of your account. You won¹t have to write a check or pay for a stamp or remember to take the envelope to the mail box. With everything else there is to worry about, isn’t it nice to have one thing you can cross off your list?