By STEVE ODEN
Buckeye Rural Electric Cooperative Staff
Your electric bill will soon have a new look and be easier to read and understand.
Buckeye Rural Electric Cooperative’s monthly statements will be printed and mailed by an Ohio company, Data Image, starting in April. The updated bill format features four-color process printing and useful information boxes, called “I-Boards, through which BREC can communicate important messages.
Buckeye REC's new bill format
(click for larger image) |
Data Image currently provides statement printing and mailing service to numerous electric cooperatives in the Buckeye State. The company operates from multiple centers in Ohio and offers turnaround of 24-48 hours after billing data is received, followed by next-day United States Postal Service delivery.
Linda Ratliff, BREC’s customer service supervisor, said in-state production and mailing of bills is reassuring to a utility with four separate billing cycles every month.
“We depend on the efficiency of the printing and mailing company and the post office to ensure that co-op members receive their bills on time,” she pointed out. “Not having to deal with out-of-state postal drop points eliminates potential confusion and makes things simpler.”
The co-op’s current bills are produced and mailed by a firm in Birmingham, Ala. In the aftermath of last fall’s devastating hurricanes in the Southeastern United States, there were worries about regional mail delays or the shut-down of postal sectional centers.
“BREC sends out over 250,000 electric bills a year, not counting delinquent notices and other material. Keeping everything in-state is reassuring,” said Ratliff.
The other benefit of the change to Data Image is a bright, informative, and easy-to-understand bill statement.
“The amount due and the due date are highlighted in color at the upper right of the bill,” explained Ratliff. “This is also shown at the right bottom of the statement after a line item listing of account activity. In the past, many co-op members complained that they had to search for the due date. The new format makes this important information very evident.”
Blocks of texts and photos can be printed in the I-Board sections, and Ratliff said this messaging enhancement will be valuable in communicating with co-op members.
“Certain types of information, we are required to publish on a regular basis. The I-Board feature gives us the ability to change the message every month.”
Finally, the lines of billing themselves have undergone minor revision.
The new bill prominently features an “Account Activity” box that routinely includes:
• Payment Received (previous month’s bill remission posted to account)
• Fixed Charge (monthly fee for account maintenance and other expenses unrelated to kilowatt-hour use)
• kWh Charge – First 500 (per kilowatt-hour distribution charge for 0-500 kWh of power use)
• kWh Charge – Over 500 (per kilowatt-hour distribution charge for all use over 500 kWh)
• Generation & Transmission (per kilowatt-hour charge for wholesale purchase of energy and cost of transmission incurred by BREC and the monthly fluctuating wholesale power cost adjustment*)
• Tax and Other (state kilowatt-hour tax, formerly included in the wholesale power cost adjustment)
Please note that the *wholesale power cost adjustment will float as part of the Generation & Transmission charge.
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