EXPLAINING YOUR BILL
Rowley Town Hall
Understanding Your RMLP Bill
Rowley Municipal Lighting Plant reads your meter and mails a bill to you monthly for each account. If you pay your bill by the last day of the billing month, you will receive an Early Payment Discount.
Got a question about your electric bill? Please give us a call at (978) 948-3992.
Definitions of Terms on Your Electric Bill
Definitions of Terms from Side 1
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Electric Service At: | This refers to the location of the electric service for which the bill has been generated. | Electric Usage History - Kilowatt Hours (KWh): | A graph that illustrates your last 12 months of electric usage in Kilowatt Hours (KWh). |
| Electric Usage Summary: | Your Average Daily Usage and a comparison to how much you used during this same time period last year. |
| Total Amount Due by: | This is the total amount you owe including early payment discount if you pay your bill by the date indicated. |
| Last Payment received: | The date the RMLP received the last payment on your account. |
| Balance Forward: | Any remaining balance from previous billing periods. |
| Current Charges: | This is the amount owed before Early Payment Discount. |
| Total Amount Due after __/__/___: | The amount you owe after the deadline for Early Payment Discount. |
| Account Number: | The number identifier of your RMLP account in the lower left of your bill above our logo and return address. |
Definitions of Terms from Side 2
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Meter Number: | The RMLP's numeral identifier of your meter at your location of service. |
| Current Read: | The KWh number of your electric meter at its current reading. |
| Previous Read: | The KWh number of your electric meter at its last previous reading. |
| Current Usage: | The KWh difference between your Meter's Current Read and Previous Read. |
| KW: | KW or kilowatt is the peak usage of real power over one 15 minute period each month and will be your demand charge. |
| Multiplier: | The multiplier is used to calculate your usage. The type of meter you have determines your multiplier. |
| Balance Forward: | This is your balance previous to this bill. |
| Distribution .1041 x Current Usage: | This charge recovers costs related to the maintenance and operation of our distribution system, power restoration and service operations. The kWh charge is based on the number of kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity used during a billing period. The kW charge, or "demand" charge, is based on the greatest amount of electricity used in any half-hour period during a billing period. |
| Purchase Power [Current Rate]x[Current Usage]: | The power cost adjustment is used to compensate for the fluctuating cost of wholesale power. Your PPA charge or credit is calculated by multiplying the usage by the current month’s PPA rate. |
| Hydro Credit (-.0031) x Current Usage: | Some of the Purchased Power for residential rates comes from Hydro-Electric plants. As long as this power costs less than conventionally obtained power, the portion per residential customer/kWh will be credited back to your account each month. |
| Conservation: | This represents the cost of energy audits performed for the Town of Rowley Municipal Lighting Plant residential customers. |
| Customer Charge: | This charge recovers the costs incurred in providing service to a customer – such as the installation, maintenance and replacement of meter(s), reading your meter, and maintaining your account records. |
| Total Current: | Total of your last month's bill. |
| Gross Amount Due: | Total due from your past (if any) and current balances. |
| Total Discount: | The RMLP offers a discount of $0.01 per KWH on all current charges for all payments received within 15 days of the billing date. The discount is not applicable to the minimum charge or the PPA charge. No discount will be allowed where arrears are due. |
| Total Due: | Your total balance due this billing. |
YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO DISPUTE YOUR BILL
If you believe your bill is inaccurate or for any other reason you wish to dispute all or part of any bill, you may call or write to the Rowley Municipal Lighting Plant Complaint Officer at 47 Summer Street, P.O. Box 355, Rowley, MA 01969, Tel. (978) 948-3992 and explain the amount you believe to be in error and the reason you believe the error has occurred. If after receipt of the decision of the Complaint Officer, you still consider your bill to be inaccurate or if you dispute the time over which an arrearage is to be paid, you have the right to appeal to the Manager of the Rowley Municipal Lighting Plant. If after receipt of the decision of the Manager, you still consider your bill to be inaccurate or if you continue to dispute the time over which an arrearage is to be paid, you have a right to appeal to the Municipal Light Board. If you still consider your bill to be inaccurate or if you continue to dispute the time over which your arrearage is to be paid, you have a right to appeal to the Department of Public Utilities.
Write: Public Utilities Consumer Division, Department of Public Utilities, 1 South Station, Boston, MA 02110, Call: (617) 747-3531 OR (800) 392-6066 Â Fax: (617) 478-2591
PROTECTION FROM TERMINATION
Residential Customers only.
Serious illness. If you have or anyone presently and normally living in your home is seriously ill, we will not cut off your service provided you also have a financial hardship. Have your physician or board of health telephone the company immediately at (978) 948-3992. Within seven (7) days of the phone call, your physician or board of health must certify in writing, to the company, that a serious illness exists. The certificate must be renewed monthly, or quarterly, if the illness has been certified to be chronic. Infant. If you or anyone presently and normally living in your home has a child under 12 months old, we will not terminate your electric service, provided you also have a financial hardship. Elderly. If all residents in your house are 65 years of age or older, the company cannot terminate your service for failure to pay a past due bill without approval of the Department of Public Utilities. You have a right to a hearing at the DPU before termination.
You may seek further assistance by calling the company at (978) 948-3992 or Write: Public Utilities Consumer Division, Department of Public Utilities, 1 South Station, Boston, MA 02110 or Call: (617) 747-3531 or (800) 392-6066.
PAYMENT PLANS
Residential Customers only.
If you are having difficulty paying your bill, a payment plan may be arranged. Under this plan a past due balance may be paid in equal installments over a specified period. Current charges will be due in addition to the payments on the past due balance. The length of time that a payment plan extends will vary from a maximum of four (4) months depending on the past due balance and your ability to pay. For information write: Town of Rowley Municipal Lighting Plant, P.O. Box 355, Rowley, MA 01969.