Prepaid Billing

PAY AS YOU GO ELECTRICITY 

MONITOR YOUR ELECTRICAL USAGE -  NO MORE MONTHLY BILLS - NO MORE LATE FEES

Traditionally, people receive a utility bill at the end of the month for all of the electricity they used in the past 30 days.

PREPAID BILLING works the opposite way. The program allows you to choose how much and how often you want to pay before you use the electricity.

Think of prepaid billing the same way as you do putting gas in your car - you pay for it before you use it. You can purchase small amounts every few days or "fill up" the tank and not worry about it for several weeks. When your supply is low, you simply purchase more.

Because you pay for the electricity in advance, the prepaid billing program does not require its users to have a deposit, and there are no monthly bills, late fees or connect/disconnect fees.

The program also saves money! In similar programs across the country, prepaid billing participants typically see a 10-12% reduction in their monthly electric costs (as they become more aware of their actual usage).

WHO CAN PARTICIPATE IN THE PROGRAM? Rusk County Electric members receiving electric service under the residential rate are eligible for a prepaid account. You must sign up in person at one of our offices. Smarthub registration is required and you must notify us with any changes in contact information.

HOW DOES IT WORK? You purchase electricity before you use it. Payments can be made when you want to; either online, over the phone, or in person at one of the RCEC offices. When your account gets below a $50 credit, you will get an alert by text or email (you must set your notification preferences) that lets you know it's time to reload your account.

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO SETUP A PREPAID BILLING ACCOUNT? There is an application fee of $50 to set up a prepaid account. Simply get started with your $50 application fee, a $50 payment to your account and a $5 membership fee. An additional trip charge of $70.00 will be added if it is necessary to connect your service in the field rather than from the office.

WHAT IF YOUR ACCOUNT RUNS LOW? Prepay is a self-managed program. You will receive a low balance notice once credit gets below $50. This will give you time to purchase power before the meter actually stops. If you do not purchase more power, the meter will stop, and the power will turn off. Once a payment is made and your account reflects at least a $50 credit, your power will reconnect automatically. If a payment is not received by the next billing immediately following a disconnect, the account will final out and all fees will be required to reconnect service.

HOW IS A DAILY BILL CALCULATED? A daily reading is taken at midnight. At noon the following day, the account goes through a billing process, billing you from the previous reading taken to the latest midnight reading. Kilowatts are billed at our current base rate less/plus the Power Cost Recovery Factor in effect. The Customer Charge is prorated as well as any outdoor lights billed to the account. Your Smarthub app will show your daily bill as well as your daily average. KEEP IN MIND…your daily average is just that. The average of your daily bills divided by the number of days in the current billing cycle.

HOW CAN YOU CHECK YOUR BALANCE? You can check your balance and make payments either on your Smarthub account or by calling 877-487-0013 24 hours a day.

For more information, or if you have questions concerning your pre-paid account, please contact our office at

(903)657-4571.