Rely-a-Bill

Enrollment is closed.

Overview

Changes in natural gas prices and temperatures can create surprises in your natural gas bill. Because predicting natural gas prices and weather is difficult, we developed Rely-a-Bill to make managing your natural gas bill payments easy.

Rely-a-Bill is a billing option for certain We Energies natural gas customers.* Rely-a-Bill allows you to pay the same monthly natural gas charge with no mid-year adjustments or year-end balances regardless of weather or natural gas market price. The set monthly payment is guaranteed to remain the same over the course of the one-year contract. You could pay more or less under Rely-a-Bill than you would with other billing options, but you eliminate the uncertainty of how much you will pay.

When you enroll, you begin a 12-month contract. If you choose to cancel your enrollment for any reason prior to the end of the 12-month contract, you will be charged a $50 exit fee and an early termination adjustment based on usage and payments to date. If a balance is due, you must pay the balance amount at the time of early contract termination.

Enrollment is limited and ended Oct. 26, 2012.

If you enroll, you may opt out of the program without penalty prior to the due date of your first Rely-a-Bill. You may participate if you are a residential customer with sufficient usage data that is predictable with respect to temperatures and if you meet our credit and program requirements.

Monthly payments

Monthly payments cover your natural gas use for one year, beginning with your November 2012 usage (shown on your December bill) and include a program fee of 7 percent. The Rely-a-Bill amount does not include electric charges or state and local taxes.

Monthly payments are calculated using your most recent use of natural gas, normal weather conditions in your area, the current year's purchased natural gas price, and the Rely-a-Bill program fee.

At the end of the program year, you receive a new payment amount and are automatically enrolled for the next program year unless you contact us to cancel participation. There is no charge to cancel participation at the end of a program year.

Rely-a-Bill vs. Budget Billing

Unlike Budget Billing, there are no adjustments or year-end balances to settle. If you enroll and your usage is different than we have predicted, you do not receive a refund or charges for additional usage. Depending on weather conditions and actual natural gas prices, you may or may not save money under this service, compared to standard service or Budget Billing. If you also are an electric customer, you cannot remain on the Budget Billing program for the electric portion of your energy bill. You may not be on Budget Billing and Rely-a-Bill at the same time. Your Budget Billing account will be settled before you begin the Rely-a-Bill program.
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Summary of terms and conditions

• Enrollment deadline is Oct. 26, 2012 and is available to a limited number of eligible customers.
• Rely-a-Bill is a 12-month commitment.
• To qualify and avoid program removal, natural gas usage must coincide with weather patterns. Customers must continue to use natural gas as they have in the past and cannot significantly increase usage without a significant change in weather conditions.
• To qualify and avoid program removal, customers must be current on their We Energies bills.
• Customers have the right to cancel enrollment, without penalty, anytime prior to the due date of their first payment.
• Customers removed from the program after the first scheduled payment are subject to a $50 exit fee and an early termination adjustment based on usage and payments to date.
• Customers installing certain energy efficiency measures may be eligible for a reduction in their Rely-a-Bill amount.

Customers installing a more-efficient gas heating system may be eligible for a 10 percent reduction in their bill.

View terms and conditions