Skip to main content
 

TO REPORT OUTAGE: 1-888-253-4232

En Español
Home
Menu
  • Main
  • My Co-op
    • About Us
      • Board of Trustees
      • Service Territory
      • Service Rules & Regulations
      • Mission & Bylaws
    • Office Locations
    • New Member Handbook
    • Capital Credits
    • Careers
    • SC Living Magazine
    • Contact Us
  • My Account
    • Start/Stop Service
    • Service Fee Schedule
    • Rate Summaries
    • Time of Day Rate
    • Payment Options
    • Bill Explanation
  • My Energy
    • Programs & Services
      • Member Benefit Card
      • Smart Thermostat Rebates
      • Electric Water Heaters
      • Energy Efficiency Loans
        • HomeAdvantage Loan Program
        • Energy Advance Loans
      • Surge Protection
      • Heating & Cooling Rebates
        • Geothermal Heat Pump
        • Dual Fuel Heating System
      • Outdoor Lighting
    • Renewable Energy
    • Energy Tips
    • Outage & Safety
      • Outage
      • Safety
    • Vegetation Management
    • Request an Energy Audit
  • My Community
    • Operation Round Up
    • Youth Tour
    • Teachers & Students
    • Grassroots Advocacy
    • Member Outreach
    • Community Services
    • Beneficial Suggestion Program
    • Power Talk Radio Show
  • Berkeley Propane
    • Gas Logs
    • Generator Program
    • Tankless Water Heaters

Understanding Your Bill

FRONT OF BILL

 

bill%20sample%202020-1_0.jpg

BACK OF BILL

bill%20sample%202020-BCK.jpg

 

YOUR BILL EXPLAINED

 

Section 1 - Payment Summary: Quickly see your total due, due date and the billing period. Your service address and account number are also printed here for quick reference.

Section 2 - Special Messages: Notification of special events & other notes

Section 3 - Current Charges: Monthly billing detail appears here, including any payments or charges since your last statement, followed by your current month's billing detail. Energy and ancillary charges, along with any fees, are all listed so you can quickly see how your monthly total is calculated.

Section 4 - Remittance Stub: Return this stub with your mailed check payment. Please mail all payments to this payment return address to ensure prompt payment processing. You can also pay online through our Smarthub portal or mobile app. 

Section 5 - Location & Meter: Service information, including your meter number, billing period, and rate, as well as total kilowatts used during the current period.

Section 6 - Usage Details: Compare your usage to last month or this time last year with a graphical overview of your usage and average cost by month. Want even more energy information? Visit the Smarthub payment portal for daily and hourly data. You can even view how the weather affected your electric use.

Section 7 - Programs & Payment Options: A list of the convenient ways you can make your payment and the many billing programs and offered by Berkeley Electric Cooperative.

Billing Summary Detail

The following line items may appear on a typical residential monthly electric bill. Your Billing Summary may include, but may not be limited to, the items listed below:

Please note - for members enrolled in programs like Budget Billing or Net Metering, or on rates like Time-of-Day or Commercial/Industrial, your bill will look different than this typical residential bill. If you have additional questions, contact a Berkeley Electric Member Services Representative at 1-800-327-9615.

Service Availability Charge

Berkeley Electric Cooperative charges a daily $0.99 Service Availability Fee in order to receive residential service and $1.18 daily for commercial accounts. This fee was previously bundled in with the Energy Charge on members' bills but was broken out as a line item charge. In conjunction with this change, Berkeley Electric Cooperative also lowered its base rate for all residential members to ensure that the change was revenue neutral overall for the cooperative. Individual members could still see a change in their bill based on their amount and pattern of electricity use.

The Service Availability Charge helps cover all of the costs associated with building and maintaining an electrical system capable of delivering reliable power 24/7. This includes items like poles, electrical wire, transformers, substations, meter testing, buildings and maintenance, insurance and much more.

Energy Charge

The total energy used over that billing period measured in kilowatt-hours (kWh) multiplied by the per kWh rate. Some rates, like Time-of-Day, include both on-peak and off-peak energy charges.

Power Cost Adjustment

The Power Cost Adjustment reflects the increases or decreases in the cooperative’s cost of wholesale power, which Berkeley purchases in bulk on behalf of all members. Berkeley Electric uses the PCA to adjust your bill to reflect changes in the price the cooperative has to pay for the wholesale power that it provides to you. By using the PCA, the cooperative is able to keep its base rates stable.

Currently, the PCA is a credit on members’ bills, and it has not changed since April 2017. The PCA can be an extra charge or a credit depending on the cost of wholesale power.

Franchise Fee

Depending on where you live, you may be charged a city fee based on a percentage of your monthly electric usage. Berkeley Electric does not make a profit on the collection of these fees. This a pass-through cost, from the members within a city’s jurisdiction to that city, as a requirement of our franchise agreement with that city.

Ancillary Charges

Ancillary charges represent fees for additional programs in which a member is participating, such as Operation Round-Up and the Green Power program.

Back to Top

ABOUT US

Berkeley Electric Cooperative is the largest, not-for-profit electric cooperative in South Carolina. We serve over 100,000 member-accounts in Berkeley, Charleston and Dorchester counties.

  • Newsroom
  • Careers

RESOURCES

As an electric cooperative, we are owned by the members we serve.

  • New Member Handbook
  • Bylaws
  • Board of Trustees
  • Capital Credits
  • Assistance  Agencies

CONTACT US

Stop by our offices, call us or email us!

  • 1-800-327-9615
  • Office locations
  • Contact Us online
  • Email: becmemberinfo@bec.coop

FOLLOW

Footer

  • Livewire2
  • Privacy Policy
  • Statement of Non-Discrimination

©2021 Berkeley Electric Cooperative. All Rights Reserved.

  • Main
  • My Co-op
    • About Us
      • Board of Trustees
      • Service Territory
      • Service Rules & Regulations
      • Mission & Bylaws
    • Office Locations
    • New Member Handbook
    • Capital Credits
    • Careers
    • SC Living Magazine
    • Contact Us
  • My Account
    • Start/Stop Service
    • Service Fee Schedule
    • Rate Summaries
    • Time of Day Rate
    • Payment Options
    • Bill Explanation
  • My Energy
    • Programs & Services
      • Member Benefit Card
      • Smart Thermostat Rebates
      • Electric Water Heaters
      • Energy Efficiency Loans
        • HomeAdvantage Loan Program
        • Energy Advance Loans
      • Surge Protection
      • Heating & Cooling Rebates
        • Geothermal Heat Pump
        • Dual Fuel Heating System
      • Outdoor Lighting
    • Renewable Energy
    • Energy Tips
    • Outage & Safety
      • Outage
      • Safety
    • Vegetation Management
    • Request an Energy Audit
  • My Community
    • Operation Round Up
    • Youth Tour
    • Teachers & Students
    • Grassroots Advocacy
    • Member Outreach
    • Community Services
    • Beneficial Suggestion Program
    • Power Talk Radio Show
  • Berkeley Propane
    • Gas Logs
    • Generator Program
    • Tankless Water Heaters