If you are anything like my family, you are probably struggling right now to keep up with the rising costs of food, gas, and electric. Not only has our homes electric bill almost doubled in the last year, but we are struggling to find ways to make up for the cost of our increasing bills. As a family who lives closer to the Redwater area our family uses Bowie-Cass Electric and I reached out to our company asking for any type of help that would lower our bill.
According to most of the electric companies in our area, if you and your family have lived in your home for over 12 months, you qualify for what they call “levelized” billing. This means, an average is taken of your bills, and instead of seeing sky high bills each month during the summer and even winter months you are given a pretty basic flat rate, based off of your prior usage, that hopefully won’t break the bank. However, we want to be honest about the process because it is not the same for every family.
BCEC was VERY honest in explaining that the flat rate we would be receiving for the summer would definitely change throughout the year. Similarly, the flat rate would not be the same every year to follow. Essentially, they are averaging your usage during those months, and if you end up using more this summer, even though you might not in the next, you will see an increase the following year. The hope is that the difference isn’t terribly tremendous. There are definite pro’s and con’s to levelizing your bills, but it is important to make sure that you have all of the facts and information before making a decision for your family and household.
If you are interested in qualifying for levelized billing, there are a few similar requirements per company that you must meet. Most of those include:
– Must have lived in the same home for more than 12 months
– Must have a strong credit with the company (not consistent late fees etc)
– Must be willing to sign up for automatic drafting from bank
If you are interested in learning more about levelized billing, contact your Electric provider to see if you qualify.
