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Bills, Payments and Financial Assistance When you apply for service, our customer service representative will tell you about the basic or minimum service costs and about one-time costs, such as establishment fees. If you have questions about the cost of your service, call our Customer Service Center. The telephone number is listed in this booklet. Rates charged for electricity supply and for electricity distribution are approved by the Maine Public Utilities Commission (MPUC). We cannot change these rates without the approval of the MPUC. You have the right to review and comment on our proposed rates when the MPUC holds public hearings on rate changes we propose. Transmission rates, however, are established by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Bangor Hydro’s delivery rates and Maine Public Utilities Commission’s Standard Offer electric supply rates can be viewed at Bangor Hydro's website. When you apply for service, we will treat you fairly. Before we accept you as a customer, we will ask you to answer some important questions. We will never deny service to anyone based on age, sex, race, or country of origin. We either will agree to provide the service you ask for, or deny your request for service. If we deny your request for service, we will inform you, in writing, of the reason and explain what you can do to establish service. When you apply for service, we will check to see if you have had service prior with us. If you have an unpaid bill, payment of a security deposit will be required as a precondition of service. We also may accept a guarantor in lieu of a deposit. If you dispute the old bill, or you are unable to pay the deposit or make other reasonable arrangements, see the "Complaint" section of this booklet. We may ask you for a deposit only if there is proof that you will be a credit risk. In most cases, this proof would be an unpaid electric bill that is overdue when you apply for service, that you have been disconnected by us for non-payment of a bill, that unauthorized use or theft of our services has been identified, or there is failure to comply with a bankruptcy court order.
We may require a deposit that is equal to your anticipated bills for two billing periods. In some circumstances, you may have a choice to pay the deposit in full or in three payments, with half the total deposit due at the time service is requested, 25 percent in thirty (30) days, and 25 percent in sixty (60) days. However, we may demand full payment of a deposit if you are already using a payment plan to pay off an unpaid Bangor Hydro bill. In 2004, Bangor Hydro installed for most residential and some commercial customers an Automated Meter Reading (AMR) system. These electromechanical meters look and operate exactly the same as a traditional meter with one exception; the disk that records kilowatt hour usage is read by an optical scanner. The scanner records daily power consumption by detecting a black indicator mark on the spinning disk. The device transmits a daily read-out to a substation collector where all readings are uploaded daily by phone to Bangor Hydro’s corporate office. An important benefit of AMR is a great reduction in estimated meter reading and billing. Those customers without an AMR meter may receive an estimated bill during extreme weather conditions, emergencies, inaccessible meters, work stoppages, or similar circumstances that would prevent our employees from reading your meter. We will not send you two (2) estimated bills in a row unless those conditions continue. MPUC requires us to obtain an actual reading at least once every twelve (12) months. If we have to issue a make-up bill for past service that you were not billed for, we will offer you a payment plan. If the reason for the make-up bill is our fault (equipment failure or our billing error, for example), you will be billed for a maximum of one (1) year of past service even if the billing mistake was for a longer time. Let us know if you want another person to get a copy of any notice we send you. We will send a copy to the person you designate, but you are still responsible for payment. You may pay your bill by mail or at the payment agencies listed on our website. If you mail your payment to us, using the return envelope, your bill is considered paid on the day we receive it. If you pay at a payment agency, your bill is considered paid on the day you make the payment. If you make a partial payment, we will apply it to the oldest balance due. Bangor Hydro accepts payment by cash, check, or money order. When a check is dishonored, we will charge you a fee. If you have more than two (2) dishonored checks, you will be required to make future payments in cash or money order. Your check or money order must be made payable to Bangor Hydro. To avoid late fee charges, pay your bill by the due date. You may pay your eectricity bill online using BHePAY. Low-income customers may qualify for help to pay a utility bill. We can refer you to available programs, but the best source of information is your local Community Action Agency. Penquis Community Action Program:
Washington-Hancock Community Agency:
Passamaquoddy Tribe:
Penobscot Nation:
Low Income Rate (LIR) Program guidelines require existing program participants to recertify their eligibility by December 31 each year. Please contact your local agency to schedule an appointment. We will continue service even if you can’t pay your account in full, as long as you pay a reasonable portion of your bill and you agree to pay the rest in affordable weekly, bi-weekly or monthly payments. You also must agree to pay all future bills within thirty (30) days of the postmark date until the overdue amount is paid-in-full. We also have a levelized Special Payment Arrangement (SPA). This is based on the current open balance plus the estimated future electric usage. We combine the two (2) amounts and divide by the number of billing periods remaining until November 1. If a customer is unable to meet the financial commitment of the levelized SPA, we offer an individualized SPA. This plan will consider the specific individual circumstances in establishing a payment plan. The minimum payment amount will be at least the average summer bill. We will consider the following issues when establishing a payment plan:
We will send you a written copy of the payment arrangement. If you do not make payments according to the payment arrangement, we will send you a disconnection notice that gives you three (3) business days to pay the past due amount or make an acceptable arrangement to avoid disconnection. You do not have to agree to a payment plan or any other proposed settlement of a disputed bill if doing so means giving up other rights listed in this booklet. The purpose of the Budget Billing Plan is to offer you, our residential customer, an opportunity to pay a monthly, levelized amount year-round. This helps to lessen the impact of high bills in the winter. You can enroll in the Budget Payment Plan anytime as long as your account is in good credit standing.
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