Budget Billing
Budget Billing provides a sense of security in having your bill be a consistent amount each month.
Budget Billing
PrePay
No deposit. No fees. Just power! PrePay is a pay-as-you-go plan that puts you in control of your electricity usage.
PrePay
Autopay
Avoid the stress of remembering to pay your bill each month.
Set it up once, and every month your payment will be made automatically from your checking, debit, or credit card account.
Sign up for automatic payments with your PUD 3 online account. You can also drop by any of our offices, or call us (360) 426-8255.
You will still receive a billing statement so you know the amount to deduct from your account. This is a great option to partner with our paperless billing program.
Paperless Billing
Sign up for Paperless Billing.
It’s as easy as 1-2-3!
This option is a great choice, especially with automatic payments
- Get your bill online in your email inbox. It’s safe and secure.
- Avoid the paper clutter. View your bill and past billing history all online.
- Get email reminders when your bill is ready to view, and when it’s time to pay.
And the best part? It’s free!
Invoice (Multiple Accounts) Billing
Tailored specifically to customers who manage multiple accounts with varying billing cycles and due dates.
Invoice Billing simplifies your payment process by combining all your separate accounts into 1 clear statement. Instead of receiving multiple bills with different due dates throughout the month, you’ll receive a single bill with one due date for all your accounts. When you make a payment for the total amount due, our system will automatically allocate your payment to the appropriate accounts.
Benefits
- Streamlined billing and payment process
- Reduction in paper usage
- One monthly due date
- Helps prevent delinquent notices and penalties
- Time saver
Sample Invoice
The initial page provides an overview of all the accounts and the total amount due, summarizing the overall account balance.
Subsequent pages break down the details of each individual account.
Billing Procedures
Billing Procedures Overview
PUD 3 receives meter reads daily from the wireless advanced meters in its service territory and generates bills each work day of the month. PUD 3 bills its customers on a monthly basis.
A simple residential bill is calculated by multiplying your kWh usage by the energy rate and adding the daily system charge for the number of days in the billing cycle (plus applicable taxes and fees).
All bills are due 21 days from the bill date. Bills become delinquent 28 days from the bill date. If a customer has not paid their bill or made satisfactory payment arrangements within 28 days of the billing, the PUD will send the customer a past due notice and assess a late fee. The purpose of the notice is intended to inform the customer that failure to make a payment or satisfactory payment arrangements within 7 days may result in the disconnection of service without further notice. To avoid this, customers may choose a more convenient time of the month for their bill to be due.
- Customers have the option to receive their monthly utility bill via email in addition to, or in lieu of, their regular paper bill.
- The late fee is $7.50 or 1.5% of the total past due balance, whichever is greater.
- While your bill is only sent once per month, customers are able to see their daily usage data on the SmartHub app or at my.pud3.org.
How My Usage is Measured
The basic measure for electricity is the kilowatt-hour (kWh). One kWh is the amount of electrical energy required to operate a 100-watt light bulb for 10 hours.
Your electric bill shows how many kilowatt-hours are used, as measured by PUD 3’s electrical meter at your house or business. This is similar to the odometer on your car. The meter continuously ‘counts’ the amount of kilowatt hours used.
Your electric bill is based on the amount of kilowatt-hours used (multiplied by the per kilowatt hour rate), plus a system charge.
The PUD calculates energy consumption with solid-state watt-hour meters and receives a reading from your meter on a daily basis. You can check your daily usage on the PUD 3 SmartHub app, online, or read your own meter to monitor your consumption.
To read your meter, simply look at the digital display on the meter for the number of Kwh used since your meter was installed. Compare that number to the number displayed on your previous bill. The display will scroll through different registers, so wait until the letters on the left read “KWH.” The difference between the 2 reads is the amount of electricity the home used since the last billing.
Estimated Bills
In some cases, meter readings are estimated, and “Estimated Statement” is printed on the customer’s bill.
In these cases, the billing system will estimate a customer’s usage based on the length of the billing cycle, previous usage for corresponding billing periods, and
PUD staff may make adjustments based on other factors and weather conditions.
If an estimated bill is issued, any difference between estimated and actual usage will automatically be corrected on the next bill when an actual read is obtained.
Round Up for Project Share
When you Round-Up your bill to the nearest dollar each month, your extra change can help a family in need keep the heat on through the winter months. It’s a good opportunity for neighbors to help neighbors and donations are tax deductible.
It’s Easy to Round-Up for Share!
Add any amount to your electric payment and note the amount of your donation on the payment stub
or
Make out a separate check to Project Share
or
Thank you for your consideration. Please call us if you would like more information.
The PUD extends its appreciation to all who have contributed to the program in the past!