Understanding Your Bill
We want to help you understand your bill. Click on the circles on each section of the sample bill to learn more. Below you'll find a more in-depth explanation of the charges. If you have any questions about any part of your bill, please contact our member services team.
What do these charges mean?
Service Availability or Service Charge
The Service Availability Charge is a minimum amount each meter is charged monthly to cover a portion of the fixed costs Northeastern REMC incurs to have electric service available to your home or business. These costs include substations, poles, power lines, transformers, meters, taxes, and administrative expenses.
The total energy used over that billing period measured in kilowatt-hours (kWh) multiplied by the per kWh rate. Some rates include both on-peak and off-peak energy charges.
Put simply, energy usage x rate per kWh = energy charge.
How do we determine how much energy is used?
Your meter keeps track of kilowatt-hours automatically. When your bill is calculated, the meter reading of the current month is compared to the meter reading of the last month.
If your October meter reading was 5704 and your November meter reading is 5977, that means you used 273 kilowatt-hours.
See the rates page for a full explanation of rates.
PJM is a regional transmission organization that coordinates the movement of wholesale electricity to over 61 million people in all or parts of 13 states. Northeastern REMC and other Indiana electric utilities are required to belong to a regional transmission organization. This cost helps your cooperative cover its mandated participation and charges related to it.
What does PJM stand for?
PJM stands for the Pennsylvania, Jersey, Maryland Power Pool. It is the electricity control area (the electric grid) for New Jersey and all or parts of in or parts of Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia.
All electricity essentially comes from PJM regardless of the state in which it was generated. PJM ensures that there is enough power to meet expected customer electricity demand at all times plus an additional reserve margin above the peak demand is ready and deliverable.
As a not-for-profit electric cooperative, Northeastern REMC provides electricity to you at cost; meaning Northeastern does not profit from selling you electricity. That electricity that comes to your home or business is purchased from the open market at the best rate available. The Power Cost Adjustment (PCA) is calculated each month and allows Northeastern's monthly rates to stay consistent rather than changing every time the generation cost of energy fluctuates.
Some months, the cost of wholesale power is actually below the base rate. The difference appears on your electric bill as a credit.
The Power Cost Adjustment (PCA) is an adjustment made to your electric bill to reflect fluctuations in the true cost of power purchased from Northeastern's provider. The fluctuation is largely caused by changes in the cost of fuel for generation. It appears as a separate line item on each member's bill each month. This adjustment is applicable to and becomes a part of all of Northeastern REMC’s retail rates schedules and is applicable to all sales. Northeastern receives no benefit or profit from the PCA.
State Sales Tax
Taxes applied to your bill are based on state and local sales tax rates for your service location.