Video: Payment Plans For High Electricity Rates

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COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI)- It seems our temperatures have been near one hundred for weeks now.

The higher the temperature, the more people usually crank up their AC.

Power companies stress reducing the amount of power you use during a heat wave.

It’s tempting to turn the air conditioning way down, but there are ways to keep your bill from turning way up during these dog days of summer.

With the summer sun bearing down on north Mississippi, it’s no surprise utility bills are soaring.
“It happens every year to every utility. Summer and winter when the temperatures get extreme, bills go up,” Manager of P.R. at 4 County Electric Power Association Jon Turner said.

Customers can owe hundreds of dollars, making it tough for some to keep the lights on.

“Yea it is difficult for people when you get these hundred degree temperatures for several weeks in a row and people get a bill of 300, 400, or even 500 dollars sometimes, and that’s difficult to pay,” Turner said.

4 County Electric Power Association, like most utilities, has alternative payment plans.

They are Prepay and Levelized Billing Plans.

“For people who just can’t bite off that big bill every month, or who don’t want to and would prefer to make smaller payments over time, prepay is definitely the way to go,” he said.

The Prepay plan keeps customers with a positive balance and aware of their usage.

“We want to make it as easy as we can for people to be able to afford electricity and be able to pay their bill,” he said.

The Levelized Billing plan keeps a rolling average of how much electricity use in a year’s time.

4-County says this option is best for people on a fixed income.

“With levelized billing, at least you know what’s going to cost you pretty much from month to month so it makes it easier if you have a fixed income to budget,” Turner said.

Both of these plans are available to customers who are residential members with at least 12 months of billing history at the same location.

Members keep track of their bills by using four county’s website or app.