Pick your due date, usage alerts first of several new options available to customers with smart meters

Duke Energy Carolinas is offering a number of new enhanced services that will provide customers with more control over their energy use as well as offer tailored bill payment options.

These programs offer customers with smart meters the opportunity to pick billing due dates, and receive alerts that will guide their monthly budget making and help them manage their personal energy lifestyle.

Pick your due date 

The pick your due date program offers eligible Duke Energy Carolinas’ customers the option to select a billing due date that best aligns with their personal needs and financial situations in order to provide more flexibility and control when paying their monthly bills. 

Usage alerts

Monthly energy costs can be tricky to predict. Duke Energy Carolinas’ customers can now take control of their electricity use and monthly budget with usage alerts.

 Customers will automatically receive an email halfway through the billing cycle. The email will include the current bill amount and a projection of what their final monthly bill could be. Customers also have the option to receive mid-cycle alerts via text message.

 Customers can also set up budget alerts to help keep their bill in check. They will be informed when their bill is expected to reach a specific dollar amount of their choosing, allowing them to course-correct and cut back on usage if they wish. It’s similar to when your cell phone provider gives you a data usage update when you are nearing the limits of your plan.

 These offerings become available as new smart meters are installed across the Carolinas. These meters are an evolution of the company’s previous meter-reading technology as it enables greater benefits and a better experience for customers.

 Hundreds of thousands of these meters have already been deployed across the Duke Energy Carolinas’ territory making these programs available to many customers there now. This option will be available to Duke Energy Progress customers beginning in 2018 as new smart meters are deployed there.

“The smart meter installations are just the first step of a bold initiative to invest $16 billion over the next 10 years to strengthen the energy grid in the Carolinas,” said Lloyd Yates, executive vice president customer and delivery operations. “These enhancements will make the grid more secure, improve power quality and reliability, and continue to enable more options for our customers.” 

Duke Energy Carolinas serves 2.5 million electric customers in western and parts of central North Carolina. Duke Energy Progress serves 1.3 million electric customers in central and eastern North Carolina and in the Asheville region.

– article submitted by Ryan Mosier