BILLING OPTIONS TO MAKE BUDGETING EASIER

May 1, 2023 at 9:10 a.m.

In the Pacific Northwest, we see vastly different weather conditions through-out the year, but it’s the high and low temperatures of winter and summer that make the biggest impacts on how much electricity we use. During these seasons, it can make budgeting for your next electric bill challenging. That’s why EPUD offers several convenient options to make budgeting for your electric bill easier. Read below to learn about our Equal Pay, Average Pay, and Prepaid Power programs and the unique benefits they provide:

  • Chart to illustrate how the Equal Payment plan works.Equal Pay1 is a great option for those who like to budget for their monthly bill payments, and is particularly helpful for those on a fixed income. Equal Pay helps you avoid the large seasonal bills by building up a credit balance during the milder months to offset the higher winter and/or summer bills. To do this, we use a 12-month average of your billing history and charge you that same average amount every month for 12 months. A new monthly payment amount is recalculated annually by averaging
    the previous year’s history.
  • Average Pay1 is very similar to Equal Pay in that it levels out your monthly payment to avoid the extreme “ups and downs” typical for summers and winters in the Northwest. The difference is that your 12-month average is recalculated monthly, not yearly. Your bill will vary a small amount each month, as the average changes with your usage.

To enroll in the Equal Pay or Average Pay program, you must sign up during the enrollment period of April through June.
1Average Pay, Equal Pay, and Prepaid Power options do not provide discounted rates.

  • Prepaid Power1 is a simple, “pay-as-you-go” alternative to traditional monthly billing. It’s a flexible plan that gives you the freedom to decide how often and how much to pay. Plus, you’ll have access to real-time usage data, making it easy to save power and money.Prepaid Power offers big benefits: no late fees, no credit required, no deposit, and no monthly bill! And for those who have fallen behind on their electric bill, Prepaid Power can help by allowing the past due amount to be paid gradually, and for any paid deposit to be immediately applied to the account balance.