Have you ever wondered what the charges are on your monthly electric billing statement? Here is a quick overview of the different charges on your standard residential bill. Visit our Rate Schedule page for the different Cooperative rates. Use the below guide to reading your new bill format. For a downloadable “How to Read Your Bill” see below:
General Contact Information – EECA address, website, business hours/after-hours number, and our 24/7 automated pay-by-phone number.
Bill Summary – Account name, number, and bill processing date. Current charges with due date plus any past due amounts, with the cumulative total amount due and the amount due if paid after the due date. This section also includes the amount of all payments (or bank draft amount) made since last statement, plus any unpaid balance or past due amount.
Total Due – The large bubble and highlighted blue line will clearly communicate total amount due and the due date of that amount. The two smaller bubbles will show the average usage per day (in kilowatt-hours, or kWhs) and the average daily cost, both calculated by the number of days in the billing period.
Monthly Electric Use – Shows a 24-month energy consumption graph. Now giving you the ability to compare the most recent 12 months of usage (kWhs) to the previous 12 months.
Important Notice – This section communicates important information regarding your EECA bill and payments, or past due information.
Daily Electric Use – A custom daily energy consumption bar graph for your billing period, that shows daily usage (kWhs), with corresponding daily high and low temperature readings.
Payment Stub – Includes cooperative contact information, bank draft notifications (for those who are signed up) plus the bill summary with due dates.
Operation Round-Up Sign-up – Now you can easily enroll in Operation Round-Up on your payment stub by checking the “sign me up” box. You can
also sign up by phone, email, SmartHub, or our homepage.
Meter Reading Details – This section lists your meter, reading dates (previous and present), reading, multiplier, billed usage and KW. For large power services, this section will also include multipliers utilized for meter reads, readings for peak demand (kilowatt, or kW) and kVAR. For interconnected meters, this area will show the delivered and generated readings, the calculated net, less any banked kWhs for a total kWh billed.
Current Bill Information – Top section includes the rate class and description, meter read dates, number of days, service location number, address and service description. Rate code can be found here. Breakdown of charges, or unbundled charges, are listed below:
DISTRIBUTION
- Service Availability Charge – Recurring fixed flat daily charge that recovers a portion of our fixed cost of providing electricity and distribution structures (such as wires & transformers outside of metering) to your home or business, regardless of usage.
- Metering Charge – Recurring fixed flat daily charge that recovers our cost to provide metering services to your home or business. This was previously included in the Service Availability Charge.
- Delivery Charge – Variable charge based on usage, kilowatt-hours (kWhs), consumed during the billing period, multiplied by the rate. This reflects costs related to right-of-way clearance, line maintenance, billing, accounting, fleet, and other Cooperative expenses incurred.
- Delivery Cost Adjustment (DCA) – Reflects the fluctuating increases and/or decreases in the distribution & delivery costs (such as inflationary & supply chain costs) each month.
ELECTRIC SUPPLY
- Energy (kWh) Charge – The fixed production & transmission cost of kWh consumed from our wholesale power supplier, Southern Illinois Power Cooperative (SIPC), for the billing period.
- Demand Charge (kW) – The highest peaked kilowatt (kW) reading captured and reported during the billing period or month. The kW is then multiplied by the demand rate(s). Demand is not a cumulative charge, but is a measurement of the maximum amount of power required during any one (1) 15-minute interval within our billing period, measured in kilowatts (kW). Simply put, demand measures your impact on our electric distribution system to deliver that power.
- Power Cost Adjustment (PCA) – Reflects the fluctuating increases and/or decreases in the wholesale power purchased each month.
- Total Energy Charges – Total of all Distribution and Energy Supply charges.
TAXES AND OTHER FEES
- Dusk-to-Dawn Lighting – Charge(s) for member requested outdoor lighting.
- Taxes – State excise taxes, and city where applicable.
- Operation Round-Up – When enrolled, the billing system automatically rounds up the member’s electric bill to the next highest dollar or amount specified by member during enrollment. These charges will be identified monthly, as well as year-to-date contributions.
Messages – Cooperative notifications, announcements, and information to keep you informed. Messages will include day-to-day business announcements, information on our annual meetings, capital credits, bill payments, auto payments and budget billing.
Ways to Pay – Choose the option that works best for you!
Account Changes & Comments – This is where you can make changes to your account, such as service addresses, mailing addresses, and even give feedback! You can also update your email and phone number(s) for our system. It is important for us to have your most up to date information.
