What payment plans can make my life easier?paying bills by phone

People are used to monthly utility bills that vary by season, but Heartland has options available to make things easier for you. We have traditional, monthly billing, and also a new pay-as-you-use prepaid plan that gives you more direct control over your power use and billing. Many of our members discover that the prepaid plan forces them to pay closer attention to when and how they use power, and makes it easier to try to reduce power use each day and save money. We offer another solution for folks who struggle with the seasonal high and low utility bills that have traditionally been hard to predict. Our Level Billing program smooths out the peaks and valleys of your utility bill, making it easier to budget each month and avoid surprises at the end of the month.

Finding better ways to pay your bill can also remove some stress from your life. It can sometimes take time for new technology to catch on. There are always so-called “early adopters” but many folks prefer to “do things the way we’ve always done it.” Paying bills is a good example. For the past 75 years, most co-op members have been hand-writing checks each month, affixing stamps, and mailing those checks to pay their electric bills. But there are many better ways to pay your bill. You don’t need to nervously wait for the US Postal Service to deliver that check to Heartland safe and sound. There are better ways.

Review the options below and give us a call if you find a program that looks like it might work for you.

Level Pay Billing

Seasonal highs and lows can sometimes be a challenge for the family budget. Heartland's level pay program smooths out the highs and lows, averaging out your monthly bill so that you don't get a surprise at the end of the month.

Prepaid Billing

With prepaid billing, you pay for electricity how and when you choose. Purchasing electricity before you use it allows you to manage your budget and pay how much you want, when you want.  Better yet, there are no security deposits. Instead of a monthly billing statement, your usage and balance are calculated daily. Track your usage by phone or online. You purchase electricity before you use it. Payments can be made when you want to; either online, over the phone, or in person at Heartland’s office. When your account runs low, you will get an alert by phone and email that lets you know it’s time to recharge your account. Prepay is a self-managed program. You will receive a low-balance notice by email and telephone based on the number of days of usage you have remaining. This will give you time to purchase power before the meter actually stops. If you do not purchase more power, the meter will stop and the power will turn off. Once a payment is made, your power will be reconnected

Automatic Bank Draft

This is the best way to pay your bill, because it frees you from ever having to worry about it again. With an automatic bank draft, your monthly bill is automatically paid through whatever bank account, debit card or checking account works best for you. Your payment is always on time. You can choose to keep receiving monthly statements, or you can go paperless. And you’ll never have to search for stamps again.

Pay by Phone

With a toll-free call to our payment hotline, 1-888-999-5517, you can pay your bill instantly. Our automated system helps you pay quickly and easily from home, work, or somewhere in between.

Online through SmartHub on our websitescreen capture of smarthub

In many ways, our online SmartHub portal is the most powerful tool we’ve ever offered to our members. Not only can you use your home computer to go online to pay your bill, but you can also use SmartHub to report an outage, and manage your account. Do you want to know more about how your home uses power? SmartHub lets you access monthly, daily and hourly data to help you look at when you use power, and find ways to save. SmartHub notifications keep you informed. A variety of notifications are available for Heartland members through SmartHub. Heartland members can choose to be alerted via text message or email when bills are due, when payments are late, or even when outages happen and are restored.

Our SmartHub App

Installing our mobile app on you smartphone or tablet puts you in touch with Heartland wherever you are. You can use the app to pay your bill with a couple of quick taps of your finger. And by setting up SmartHub to send your phone alerts and notifications, you’ll always know what’s going on with your electricity. Don’t know what works best for you? Call our office at 1-800-835-9586 and our friendly and helpful member service representatives will help get you all set up.

Payment Arrangements & Assistance

Are you having trouble paying your electric bill? If you know that you cannot pay your electric bill by the due date, Heartland Rural Electric Cooperative will discuss a payment arrangement with you. We always try to assist members when we can, but certain conditions do apply. To request a payment arrangement, please call our office to talk to one of our Member Service Representatives. In some cases, our staff may be able to put you in touch with agencies in your area who can help provide you with financial assistance.