New piloting program looks to explain high power bills

LOWNDES COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – Temperatures are climbing and many people will be running the AC full blast, but staying cool may come at a higher price.

4-County Electric Power Association is looking to be proactive with its members by piloting a new program to help explain differences in their bills.

Summer temperatures are on the rise and for many the extreme heat can mean an extreme difference in their power bill and those changes come with a lot of questions.

Manager of Public Relations and Marketing Jon Turner said 4-County Electric Power Association is rolling out a new pilot program with Apogee Interactive to help its customers understand changes in their energy bills.

“We wanted to do something to help folks understand A. why their bill went up and maybe get ahead of the issue too,” said Turner.

The program uses billing data, tailored to each customer, showing the causes of those changes.

“If your bill changes either positively or negatively from last month to this month $20 higher, $20 lower you’re going to get one of those videos and it’s going to try and explain to you why your bill may have changed,” said Turner.

How it works, customers will receive a link directly to their email address.

Once the link is clicked, a video will show why there are changes and tips to help reduce the next cycle’s cost.

The cooperative says this is another tool the cooperative gives members to help them understand energy usage.

“It’s going to try and explain to you why your bill may have changed. it looks like things like heating and cooling which is obvious at this time of year, days of billing so if your billing cycle ran a little longer and then it tries to give you an idea of what happened and why your bill moved like that,” said Turner.

The program is on a three-month trial.

Turner said it’s important for customers to fill out the end survey so 4-County can get the best results.

Tuner said so far the program seems to be pretty efficient but if you have questions you can always give them a call.

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