Uncategorized

If you have a dispute regarding the amount of your electric bill, you may request a supervisory review by the Cooperative. If you do not participate in such a review, electric service may be disconnected provided a notice of disconnection has been issued. The Cooperative must complete its determination within 60 days.

Following disconnection, the Cooperative will promptly and automatically refund deposits plus accrued interest, or the balance, if any, in excess of the unpaid bills for service furnished.

When a member has paid for service for 12 consecutive residential bills or for 24 consecutive commercial or industrial bills without service being disconnected for nonpayment and without more than 2 delinquent bills, and is not delinquent in the payment of current bills, the Cooperative will refund the deposit plus accrued interest in the form of a credit to the member’s bill.

Subject to the above provisions, deposits may be held for the term of service as rendered necessary by the Cooperative.

Your electric service may be disconnected after proper notice for the following reasons:

• Failure to pay an outstanding bill in full within 30 days of issuance or failure to meet the terms
  of a deferred payment plan;
  Violation of Sam Houston Electric Cooperative’s rules for the use of service in such a manner
  that interferes with the service of others, or the operation of nonstandard equipment provided
  that the Cooperative attempts to notify you of the problem and allows you to remedy the
  situation; or
• Failure to comply with Sam Houston Electric Cooperative’s deposit and/or fee requirements.

Sam Houston Electric Cooperative may disconnect service at once and without notice:

• In instances of bypassing or tampering with meters or equipment or other instances of
  diversion; or
  Where a dangerous condition exists; or
• If a service was reconnected using a payment method that has insufficient funds

You may be exempt from paying a deposit for residential service if you meet any one of the following
conditions:

• You can provide an acceptable letter of credit showing all the following:
  • You have been a customer of any electric utility for the same kind of service within the last two
    years;
  • You are not delinquent in payment of any such electric utility service account;
  • You were not late more than twice in paying a bill during the last 12 months of service; and
  • You did not have service disconnected for nonpayment.
• You are medically indigent.
• You are a member who currently has service with the Cooperative. The deposit for additional
  service will be waived if:
  • You have not been late more than twice in paying a bill in the last 12 months of service; and
  • You have not been disconnected for non-payment.
• You are 65 years or older and do not have an outstanding account balance within the last two years
  with Sam Houston Electric Cooperative or another electric utility for the same type of service.
• You show proof of having been a victim of family violence.
• You provide financial responsibility in another way, if approved by and acceptable to the Cooperative.

Rider PM

Approved/Effective 12-16-15 / 11-29-17 / 5-16-2018

Program

A Member may choose to establish a Prepaid Account and prepay for Electric Service under the terms and conditions of the Cooperative’s Prepaid Metering Program (“Program”) contained in this Rider PM. A Member desiring to participate in the Program shall submit a signed Program “Application and Agreement” included as part of this Rider PM (“Application”) and submit any required amounts required of the Cooperative to participate in the Program. A Member participating in the Program agrees to the terms of the Program established in this Rider PM. To the extent that any terms of the Program found in this Rider PM are in conflict with any other
provisions of the Cooperative’s Member Policies and Schedules the terms found in this Rider PM shall prevail.

Participation in the Program is at the sole discretion of the Cooperative and the Cooperative may deny a Member’s Application or remove a Member from the Program at any time, without notice. Additionally, the Cooperative’s Board of Directors (“Board”) may revise or cancel the Program, at any time, without notice.

Eligibility

Members eligible to participate in the Program shall:

1. be receiving or require only single phase, 200 amp, Electric Service classified under the Cooperative’s Schedule R;
2. not require continuous Electric Service to prevent the occurrence of a medical emergency;
3. not be receiving Electric Service that is subject to the Cooperative’s Riders G-1, G-2 and G-3; and
4. not owe any outstanding amounts to the Cooperative or in the alternative have entered into a Payment Arrangement Plan with the Cooperative in which at least 25% of amounts submitted to maintain a Prepaid Account balance shall be applied to outstanding amounts due the Cooperative.

Required Balances & Minimum Payments

The following Prepaid Account balance amounts shall be required of a Member to participate in the Program after any other fees or other amounts due the Cooperative necessary to participate in the Program:

Establishment of Prepaid Account.................................................................$50
Reconnect an Active Prepaid Account ..........................................................$10

Amounts submitted to maintain a Prepaid Account balance shall not be less than $10.

Monthly Fee

Monthly Program Fee ................................................................................................N/A

Rate

Charges for Electric Service provided under the Program (“Rate”) shall be assessed per the Rate Schedule under which the Cooperative has classified the Member. Charges comprising the Rate in the applicable Rate Schedule may be converted to a “daily value” and assessed daily against the Prepaid Account balance.

Disconnection

Discontinuance of Electric Service or “Disconnection” shall occur without mailed notice if the Prepaid Account balance falls below $0.00.

Disconnection may occur at any time after the Prepaid Account balance falls below $0.00 (e.g. 7 days/week, 24 hours/day) including holidays and weekends (e.g. Saturday and Sunday).

Disconnection may also occur as provided in other provisions of the Member Policies and Schedules.

Disconnection may be deferred because of an Extreme Weather Event. A Prepaid Account shall continue to accrue charges for Electric Service during an Extreme Weather Event and may be disconnected by the Cooperative when the Extreme Weather Event has ended if the Member fails to submit amounts necessary to bring the Prepaid Account to a positive balance.

Upon Disconnection, charges for electric energy usage shall not accrue but the Monthly Program Fee and other applicable charges may be assessed against the Prepaid Account until such time that the Prepaid Account becomes inactive.

Inactive

A Prepaid Account that has been disconnected for a period of more than 7 days will be considered inactive. When a Prepaid Account becomes inactive a Member’s membership in the Cooperative shall be terminated if the Prepaid Account is the only account an individual has with the Cooperative. A final bill will be provided to individual’s whose Prepaid Account has become inactive at the last known address on file for the Prepaid Account in question for any outstanding amounts due the Cooperative.

Restoration

All amounts due the Cooperative and balance requirements shall be satisfied before the Cooperative will restore Electric Service that has been Disconnected. Additionally the Cooperative may require a Member to take other actions or perform certain steps to allow for the safe restoration of Electric Service before the Cooperative will restore Disconnected Electric Service.

Electric Service will not be restored at a location for a Prepaid Account that has become inactive. An individual requesting the restoration of Electric Service that has become inactive at a location must take the steps necessary to re-establish a Prepaid Account as required by the Cooperative or establish a new account with the Cooperative for Electric Service provided to the location.

Member Responsibilities

A Member participating in the Program understands and agrees:

1. That it is the responsibility of the Member to monitor and administer their Prepaid Account and that in doing such they should subscribe to and utilize the Cooperative’s online bill payment portal.
2. That all communications regarding the Prepaid Account, including notices of Disconnection and low Prepaid Account balances will be provided through the Cooperative’s online portals and that it is the responsibility of the Member to monitor such and be aware of such communication to avoid Disconnection.

With Sam Houston Electric Cooperative’s group billing option, members with multiple accounts can now receive one itemized statement each month that includes a total payment due for all their accounts with the Cooperative.

Billing information is collected and statements are generated at different times during the month in cycles. When you sign up for group billing, the due date of your new itemized statement will coincide with the latest due date of your current accounts.

The group billing option is free of charge and is easy to sign up for. Contact us and we will take it from there.

Payments can be made on individual accounts using our automated phone system. To pay the full group amount, you can come by our office, pay by mail, or call the Co-op and speak to a member service representative. Group billing accounts can also be set up for automatic payments.

If the rise and fall of seasonal electric costs throws your bankbook out of balance, the Budget Billing Program is for you.

The Budget Billing Program for residential members allows you to pay a set amount each month, which is based on your average kilowatt usage throughout the previous year.

How it Works

• Sam Houston Electric Cooperative will read your meter each month and the kilowatt usage will be recorded on your account.
• Every 12 months, Budget Billing accounts are reviewed, and the Budget Billing amount is adjusted up or down based on actual usage.
• The new payment amount begins with the next month’s bill.
  • At that time, any credit balance from the previous 12-month period is prorated over the next 12-month period.
  • Any debit balance will also be prorated over the next 12-month period.
• Your kilowatt usage can be checked at any time by speaking with a member service representative.

Members who wish to sign up for the Budget Billing program must have a $0 account balance as well as a 12-month billing history with Sam Houston EC.

Looking for a way to smooth out those monthly bills? Budget billing could be the solution!

To sign up for the Budget Billing Program, give us a call at (800) 458-0381, or submit an online request.

The Budget Billing plan may be terminated at any time upon the member's request, or if the member fails to pay the full monthly amount by the due date on the bill. The Budget Billing plan will be automatically terminated when the member requests disconnection of electric service or if the account is delinquent at the time the initial Budget Billing statement is prepared. Any debit balance outstanding on the account will become due when the Budget Billing Plan is terminated.