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1. What to do about a high bill?

You can call one of our customer service associates at: 505-599-1353, regarding a high utility bill for your home or business. Your electric/water usage histories will be reviewed. With your assistance, the cause(s) may be identified. If deemed necessary, a work order will be processed to send for a reread to verify the accuracy of the most recent meter reading on the contested bill. When a reading is determined to be in error, a corrected bill can be sent to replace the bill in error. Note that when a meter is over or under read, the next month’s correct reading will automatically compensate for the initial reading error since home and most business meters are never turned back to “0” (similar to your car odometer).

2. What is the “Demand Charge”?

The demand charge is designed to have the larger power using customers (larger commercial and industrial) pay their fair share of the utility’s fixed investment. This includes the production, transmission and distribution capacity required to meet the customer’s maximum requirements. The charge is based on the rate at which electricity is consumed. The more electricity used at any given time, the larger the utility’s investment in generation, transmission and distribution systems has to be. For example, considering two users: A and B; both consume an equal number of kilowatt-hours (kWh) each day. User A consumes electric energy evenly 24 hours a day while user B consumes the same number of kWh rapidly in only eight hours a day. User B’s demand requires the utility to have a generating and distribution capacity three (3) times the capacity required to serve user A. User B is billed for this additional capital investment. The consumer’s actual demand is metered at the average amount of energy consumed in any interval of 15 minutes. The highest demand recorded during a month becomes the actual demand for the month. To be able to produce enough power for all customers, it is critical that the utility knows the power loads of its larger customers because they have a direct impact on the system’s total power requirements. Rate analysts and utility management can more easily predict the power requirements of the smaller power users. Therefore, charges for demand are built into their kWh energy cost instead of being listed separately on the bill.

3. What is the Miscellaneous Charge on my bill?

The miscellaneous charge is the fee charged to cover connection services and setting up an account in the customer’s name. Other miscellaneous charges occur for trip charges and re-connection fees.