Billing And Payment FAQs
Visit our Pay My Bill page for information on paying your bill.
Budget billing allows you to even out your utility payments over the year. To participate in the budget billing program, you must have service at your current location for at least one year. A billing representative will help you find out more about the program and obtain the paperwork you need to sign up for budget billing.
Automatic payments make paying your utility bill easy. Each month, the amount you owe will be drafted from your bank account or charged to your credit card on your due date or next business day. Your SLVREC statement will show you how much will be charged to your card or drafted from your account.
If you can't pay your electric bill, call a billing representative at SLVREC right away. Call before you receive a disconnect notice. We have low income energy assistance programs to help.
For more information on closing your account, please visit the Account Center or contact one of our customer service representatives.
As a cooperative, SLVREC does not operate for a profit. Rates are determined by periodic cost-of-service studies designed to evaluate the cost of doing business for each rate class served. Money collected in excess of actual expenses is retained by the cooperative as a type of operating loan. This loan from members to the cooperative provides a ready cash flow and keeps the cooperative financially stable.
Did the San Luis Valley REC raise electric rates to collect more revenue overall?
We expect to generate about the same amount of revenue from electric consumers this year and next year as we did last year. Although we’ve heard concerns from some members who saw their bills increase, there has been a roughly equal amount of savings for other members. The goal was not to generate more overall revenue but to more equitably share costs among members based on how and when they use power and the demands they put on the electric grid, the system of power generation, transmission and distribution that provides reliable power 24/7.
Why were demand charges introduced for residential consumers?
Electric rates with a demand component, which charges for relatively brief spikes in a member’s electricity usage, have been around for a long time for farmers who irrigate and other large commercial users. But previously, the technology didn’t exist to measure these spikes in usage among residential consumers.
In the last few years, the REC has changed residential members’ meters. The new meters allow the REC to measure not just how much total electricity consumers use over a month but more precisely when that electricity is used.
Why is it important to measure and charge for spikes in demand?
Demand pricing more fairly shares the costs that these spikes in electricity usage place on the electric grid. It can encourage people to make simple adjustments to their electricity usage patterns to reduce overall costs to the system – and that benefits everyone.
The electric grid must have enough capacity to meet the highest spikes in demand when a lot of consumers use a lot of power at the same time. Spreading out electricity use and avoiding big spikes reduces the demands on – and the overall costs of maintaining – the power grid. Remember that users can moderate these spikes in usage. One example would be staggering when they run appliances that use a lot of power and not turning them all on at once.
Why were the rates revised again this year, starting Dec. 1?
REC members concerned that they were paying more under the new rate structure filed complaints with the Colorado Public Utilities Commission. One complaint was filed by a couple dozen members and another was filed by the Town of Crestone. Earlier this year there was a preliminary hearing to discuss those complaints, but it was agreed to try mediation instead to see if an agreement could be reached without a drawn-out and potentially expensive legal process. In line with the agreement reached in the mediation process, the demand charge was significantly reduced, effective Dec. 1 and will remain at that rate until April 1, 2021.
Demand charges
For the rates that have a purchase power demand charge (Time of Day), that demand is measured during the peak period, which is Monday through Saturday, 12 noon through 10 p.m.
There is also a distribution demand charge which is the highest 15-minute usage during the billing month (which is a calendar month). This charge covers the cost of the electric infrastructure in place to keep homes and businesses connected to REC.
Net meters
Previously, REC’s fixed costs were included in the kilowatt-hour charge and since up until just a few years ago, that methodology worked to fairly recover the cost of providing electricity. As more and more net meter installations occurred, those REC members who did not have a net meter installation were increasingly subsidizing members with those net meter installations. Essentially, members without net meters were helping to pay net meter owners’ investments. With the new demand rate in place, this is no longer the case.
ETS units
The original Cost of Service Study indicated the need for a six percent rate increase for the Time of Day customers. With the April 1 rate change those members could have seen an approximate six percent increase if their ETS units were appropriately sized for the space and used diligently and other electric appliances were controlled. The interim rate, which went into effect on Dec. 1, 2019 as a result of the Colorado Public Utilities Commission complaint settlement, substantially reversed the benefit of using the ETS unit diligently on off-peak hours.
Managing demand
The REC has been piloting demand controllers, which in many instances have great potential to help members manage demand. As REC continues to gain experience on how these devices can benefit members, the information will be shared.
Understanding demand
As more appliances in your home run simultaneously, the rate at which you are consuming electricity increases. For example: Mary and Joe both use 3.3 kwh when cooking dinner and running their dishwashers— 1.5 kwh for the range and 1.8 kwh for the dishwasher. However, Mary cooks her food for one hour, then she runs her dishwasher the next hour. Joe cooks his food and runs the dishwasher while he’s cooking. Mary’s total demand is 1.8 kw, whereas Joe’s is 3.3 kw. Both members are using the same amount of energy but putting a different demand on the electric grid.