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CUBFacts
Understanding Your Budget-billing Plan What is a budget-billing plan?
Each natural gas utility is required by Illinois
law to offer a “budget-billing plan,” also called a
How does a budget-billing plan work?
Budget-billing plans DON’T reduce the amount
customers pay to heat their homes. Rather, they
spread the payments out over a certain period,
usually a year. Utilities consider such factors as
the total amount a customer paid for natural gas
usage the year before, projected gas prices and
weather conditions to come up with an estimated
monthly budget amount.The utility will continue to take monthly meter readings to determine a customer’s actual usage and at the end of the designated budget-billing period, the company will compare estimated and actual usage. At this “settlement” time, if actual usage is greater than the estimated usage, the customer will be billed for the difference or that amount will be rolled over into the next year’s bills. Some utilities will allow you to pay off that difference through deferred payment plans lasting four to 12 months, while others may demand immediate payment. If actual usage is less than the estimated amount, then the customer gets a credit. Upon request by the customer, some utilities may pay that credit by check. Also, some utilities pay interest on the credit. Will a customer’s monthly bill ever change under a
Yes. Budget-billing plans do not necessarily
protect you from bill fluctuations. If the price
of natural gas changes dramatically or if your actual usage is
much higher than the estimated amount,
utilities may change your monthly payment so
you don’t have a large debt at the end of the
budget-billing period.budget-billing plan? For example, under Illinois Power’s “levelized payment plan,” the utility reviews a customer’s monthly bill every one to three months, and if the bill increases or decreases by at least $1 from the estimated amount, the utility will adjust the bill to keep the customer’s payments evened out. Peoples Gas reviews a customer’s account each month, and will change the monthly installment if your payment needs to change by at least 25 percent. Smaller changes will be adjusted every six months. How is Nicor Gas’ budget-billing plan
different from other utilities’ plans?
Nicor is the only major utility in the state
that charges budget-billing customers interest
on an unpaid balance. Nicor and other utilities
pay interest on credit balances accrued by
customers, but Nicor is the only company that
charges interest on the unpaid balance.
See the back of this page for more information
on the budget-billing plans of major Illinois utilities.
What is CUB?
CUB is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, statewide
utility watchdog organization that represents
consumers’ interests before the ICC, in the
courts and in the state legislature. Since its
inception, CUB has saved Illinois customers
more than $10 billion by blocking rate hikes and
securing customer refunds. If you have any
questions or complaints about your phone,
natural gas or electric bill, call CUB’s Consumer
Hotline at 1-800-669-5556. The hotline is a free
service provided to all Illinois consumers.
CUB is funded by individual consumers and by a grant from the Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation. CUB is only as strong as its members, so please join CUB today!
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