The Prepaid Billing program—a voluntary, alternative payment option—is available to certain members of The Energy Cooperative (the “Cooperative”).  By signing this Prepaid Billing Service Agreement (this “Agreement”), you, the undersigned member, are agreeing to the terms and conditions of this Agreement.

Eligibility to Participate:  In order to participate in the Prepaid Billing program, you must have service at the residential or general service electric rate (without demand), have 200‐ampere service or lower, and have an AMI meter that provides consistent daily reads to the Cooperative.  You represent and acknowledge that you satisfy these eligibility requirements.  You agree that if you fail to maintain an AMI meter (for example, you opt-out of having an AMI meter), you will no longer be eligible to participate in the Prepaid Billing program.

Enrolling in Prepaid Billing

For Existing Members: After you return this Agreement to the Cooperative, they will establish a Prepaid Billing account for you. All current deposits held for your conventional account will be first applied toward the outstanding balance of your current conventional account and any remaining deposit will be deposited into your Prepaid Billing account for future use. All charges and unbilled usage must be paid to $0.00 on your conventional account before you can participate in the Prepaid Billing program. Additionally, you'll need to have a prepaid credit balance of $-25.00 to join this program.

For New Members: After you return a signed Agreement to the Cooperative, the Cooperative will establish a Prepaid Billing account for you.  A minimum of $25.00 must be paid to your Prepaid Billing account to connect service. This amount will be applied to your future energy usage.

Account Management

·     Once the Cooperative has established a Prepaid Billing account for you, you are required to maintain funds in that account in an amount sufficient to pay your electric bill on a daily basis.  See “Calculating Your Bill” below.  You are responsible for monitoring the balance in your Prepaid Billing account to ensure that funds are available.  You will not receive a written bill, either daily or monthly. Information concerning your Prepaid Billing account balance, daily usage, alert notification settings, charges and payments can be viewed in the SmartHub app, or by logging into your account from myenergycoop.com. You can also access this information by calling 1-740-344-2102 (option 2) or toll free at 1-800-255-6815 (option 2).

·     If your Prepaid Billing account has a balance greater than zero (shown in red), the Cooperative will issue a notice that service will be disconnected at 2:00 p.m. the same day if no payment is received. Electric service will automatically reconnect when the prepaid credit balance is -$25.00. Reconnection will occur the next business day if the Cooperative cannot communicate with the meter electronically.

·     Prepaid Billing accounts are not eligible for payment arrangements, budget billing, or bank draft. Energy assistance is applied to the Prepaid Billing account once payment is received by the Cooperative. Pledges will not be accepted to prevent disconnection of service. If returned payments, such as a bad check, are received on the Prepaid Billing account, the amount of the returned payment and a returned check charge will be applied to your Prepaid Billing account. If this causes the funds in the Prepaid Billing account to be exhausted, the Cooperative will disconnect your electric service.

Calculating Your Bill

•     A meter reading will occur at least once each day to determine your electric usage. The kWh consumed, as determined by the meter reading, is multiplied by the kWh rates, including the Power Cost Adjustment (Schedule PCA).  This amount is added to other applicable daily usage charges to determine the cost of the electric service used by you that day. A pro-rated amount for monthly charges, such as the Facility Fee, and applicable taxes are then added to the cost of electric service used by you that day, resulting in the total amount of your electric bill for that day.  This daily total amount will then be withdrawn from the balance in your Prepaid Billing account.

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At   At the end of each billing cycle, total monthly charges shall be calculated as if the Member were served on the standard residential schedule. Any difference in the standard residential schedule charges and the cumulative prepaid daily charges shall be reconciled and added to or deducted from the Prepayment Balance at the next Account Calculation.

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 In  In the event a daily meter reading is not available for one or more days due to communications issues with the AMI system, communications issues with your AMI meter, or other reasons beyond the control of the Cooperative, no bill will be generated for that day or days, but instead, a cumulative bill will be generated for the period that daily meter readings were not available in the manner described above, and the amount of this cumulative bill will then be withdrawn from the balance of your Prepaid Billing account.

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      Prepaid Billing is subject to all charges applicable to the conventional billing, except that there are no late or disconnect charges for Prepaid Billing accounts.

Balance Notifications: Notifications are sent by email, SMS and/or push notifications from the SmartHub app. You are solely responsible for managing and updating the alert notification settings on your Prepaid Billing account. All low-balance and disconnect notices will be sent in the manner you select for your account. Failure to properly maintain your alert notification settings may result in disconnection without further notice. You must maintain a pending disconnect alert. Alert notifications are free.

Making Payments: Payments to your Prepaid Billing account may be made as follows:

·     At our drive thru at 1500 Granville Road. Newark, Ohio 43055 during normal business hours.

·     Electronically in the SmartHub app or by logging into your account from myenergycoop.com.

·     By calling the automated phone system (1-740-344-2102 or toll free at 1-800-255-6815) (payments accepted 24 hours a day).

·     By mailing your payment to, or by depositing your payment into the night deposit box at, 1500 Granville Road, Newark, Ohio 43055 (be sure to allow enough time for your payment to be received by our office to avoid disconnection).

Ending Your Service

·     A final settlement of the Prepaid Billing account will be made when your participation in the Prepaid Billing program ends.  At that time, a final bill or a check for any funds remaining in your Prepaid Billing account will be mailed to you at your last known address on file.

•     If, pursuant to the terms of this Agreement, your electric service is disconnected by the Cooperative and not re-activated within 20 days, your Prepaid Billing account will be closed.  At that time, a final bill or a check for any funds remaining in your Prepaid Billing account will be mailed to you to your last known address on file.