What is Levelized Billing? 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.
Would Levelized Billing benefit me? Yes. Levelized Billing can help with your monthly budgeting needs and can be used to level out high summer or winter usage for ease of paying
How does Levelized Billing work? 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 13 months. For example, this month’s bill would be the average electric usage of the previous 12 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 Marshall-DeKalb Electric Cooperative system or when you decide you no longer want to participate in Levelized Billing.
How do I qualify? You can participate in Levelized Billing if you are an active residential consumer-member of Marshall-DeKalb Electric Cooperative and are set up on bank draft. Levelized Billing is only available to residential consumers.
Do I pay the same amount each month? 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.
What do I pay for this service? Levelized Billing is free for the members of Marshall-DeKalb Electric Cooperative. There is no signup 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 call your Marshall-DeKalb Electric Cooperative office.
Can I just call and be put on Levelized Billing? No. In order to be put on Levelized Billing, the consumer-member who’s named on the account must come to the office and sign the required documentation to start utilizing Levelized Billing.
Can I cancel out of Levelized Billing? Yes, a member may cancel their agreement anytime. In the event a member cancels their agreement, any credits or balances will be due. The member will not be eligible to enroll in the program for 12 months after canceling.