Understanding The Equal Payment Plan For Your Utilities

Utility prices continue to skyrocket. People are having trouble paying their bills. One particular part of our society having trouble is our Senior Citizens, particularly those on a fixed income. Many people think that they can't save money on their utilities if they use the Equal Payment Plan. This is a fallacy. Let me show you what an Equal Payment Plan is and how it works.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Step1
To begin an Equal Payment Plan you must start with a zero balance. In other words, your bill must be paid in full. You contact your utility company and determine if they offer this type of plan. Most do. Set up a time to visit the company and discuss how this plan might help you with your bill payment and how much your cost would be each month.

Step2
During the meeting, your customer service representative would look at your bills for the past year. She will take the last 12 months bills and average them together. That average would be what you would pay monthly for the upcoming year. As long as you use your utilities the same as in the past year, everything would average the same for the upcoming year.

Step3   If, however, you start conserving on power, making changes in the winterization of your home, cut down the thermostat or start unplugging devices not in use, your bills will go down over the next year. If you are paying $200.00 per month as averaged by last year's use and your actual reading this year goes down, you will end up with a credit balance at the end of the year. Each year your account gets an end of the year review. If you conserved and your kilowatts used come down (cost remaining the same) your payment will be adjusted downward for the next year. Instead of paying $200.00 per month the next year you would be paying say $150.00. Also, you are starting with a credit balance and may be able to skip payments for a month or two until the balance starts going back up.

Step4
The cost of power in an area is the same for those who pay the actual bill and those who pay with an Equal Payment Plan. You do not pay more per use for the convenience of knowing how much your bill will be each month making it easier to budget for your bills. If you ever decide to come off the payment plan and you have a credit balance, you will receive a check for your overpayment. If you have a small balance though, you will be expected to pay the additional cost.

Step5
When I advise people about the Equal Payment Plan, I always discuss the benefits of conserving their utilities. I also explain that this is not a free ride to use as much energy as they want because it will be reflected in their payment cost change at year's end.

Step6
The Equal Payment Plan is especially beneficial for Senior Citizens on a fixed income. They will always know just how much they have to pay out of their meager checks and can budget easily for it. It not only helps someone on a fixed income but anyone who is intelligent enough to budget their money. You know how much your mortgage payment is each month and your car payment. Why not budget for your utilities as well?

Tips & Warnings

• Whether you are on a pay as you go plan or Equal Payment Plan, Conserve, conserve, conserve. Your payments will go down.
• Unplug unused electrical items until you are ready to use them.