Billing Enquiries—Frequently Asked Questions

As a Residential ( Rate A) or Commercial ( Rate B ), why am I charged a “Customer Charge”?

This charge goes towards the recovery of the fixed costs associated with providing a supply of electricity to these customers. Such fixed costs include the costs of installing and maintaining your meter and administrative costs associated with providing the service.

When am I charged “Interest on Overdue Bills”?
Interest on Overdue Bills was introduced by the PUC Order Number 80 of 1992 to encourage customers to pay their electricity bills on time. This bill represents the cost of electricity that would have been consumed over the period of two months so that the customer already has a built-in period of credit.

Interest accrues on all amounts that are unpaid 30 days after the Bill Date. This Interest is charged at the same Overdraft Rate levied on the Commission by its Bankers. As such, the rate varies from time to time.

What do you mean by a Miscellaneous Charge?
In addition to billing you for the consumption of electricity, a number of other charges may be necessary from time to time that are not measured by your meter but which nonetheless relate to the maintenance of your supply of electricity.

These are detailed at the back of your bill . For example, if your account is disconnected for non-payment, a miscellaneous charge of $118 + VAT would be shown on the bill.

When are my bills estimated?
In order to control meter reading costs, the meters on Domestic and General industry are read every other period. Bills in the intervening periods are based on an estimated meter reading. This practice is utilized in the electricity industry world-wide. The estimate is based on an average of your consumption over the last eight months/four billing periods. In addition to being estimated through this standard practice, an estimated meter reading may be necessary in circumstances such as the malfunction of the meter or its inaccessibility for reading purposes. If you want your bill to be based on an actual reading, access the “Next Scheduled Read” date on your bill and call any of our offices with your meter reading within five working days of that date. Your reading will be utilized if it is on time and is consistent with your history of consumption.

When does my bill become due?
Except in the case of some of our largest customers who have special, individualized contracts, bills become due 14 days after the Bill Date as indicated on the face of the bill. In other words, your account can be disconnected anytime after the fourteenth day for an unpaid current bill.

Why should there be large variations in my T&TEC bill?
Although this occurs infrequently, it is most frustrating to a customer who cannot get an immediate explanation. You should remember though that T&TEC has increased the number of Service Outlets available to respond in the shortest possible time to this query.

Variations may occur for a number of reasons among which may be:-

(i) Your immediately previous bill may have been low. This could occur in the following instances:
• It was based on a low estimate of consumption.
• The Days of Service (DOS) may have been much less than the two month (60 days) norm
• Through human error, the meter reading taken was lower than it actually was.
• The meter may have malfunctioned.

In all these instances the current bill would compensate for the low bill that preceded it.

(ii) Your consumption may have increased for reasons such as:
• You acquired more appliances
• You used heavy appliances more that usual e.g. a clothes dryer in a rainy month?
• Your consumption increased . Did you have guests? Was an appliance faulty? Was there for example a water leak that caused a pump or water header to work excessively?

(iii) There may be an adjustment on your account. If there is an adjustment, this is shown separately on your bill. Our policy is to write you with the details of an adjustment before it appears on your account. On occasion however this may not be practical. In such a case, we would gladly clarify through a call or visit to any of our Service Centres.

How soon after the “Read” date will I be billed?
You will be billed approximately 10 working days after this date.

What if I do not receive a Bill in the Mail?
As a Residential or Commercial customer, you should receive a bill in the mail approximately every sixty days. If you do not, you may call any of our Service Centres (numbers are at the back of the bill) for the balance on the account. Find out also, when the bill is due. If you are close to that date you should come in to any of our outlets and pay the amount due.

Where/How can I pay my bills?
You may pay you bill at any of the T&TEC locations shown on the back of you bill. You may also mail cheques, money orders or postal orders to our Head Office but remember to quote you account number on such remittances.

And Yes! You may pay your electricity bill at any of our local Commercial Banks, Bill Express locations, Sure Pay, and through T&TEC’s Automated Credit Card Bill Payment. However, it is advisable to pay directly to T&TEC if you are making the payment after 14 days of the Bill Date.