Effective 7/1/23, CMELD will no longer be calling customers to remind them that payments are due, past due, or that they are in danger of being shut off.
Electricity is a MONTHLY charge – You know you will be receiving a bill each month. CMELD is required to pay our suppliers for energy and transmission within 14 days of receiving the invoice. If we do not make these payments on time, we could be shut off. That means the whole TOWN would be shut off.
Public utility companies will not call you and remind you that you need to pay your bill – they will send you the notices and then shut you off accordingly. Additionally, CMELD offers a discount for prompt payment (which public utilities do not) and we do not charge late charges or finance charges (which public utilities DO).
We are a two-person workforce. We no longer have the time (or the inclination) to contact 50 to 100 people every month to remind them they need to pay their bill. We follow the Department of Public Utility regulations for customer notification of account status and pending shut off notices. They do not require us to call customers for payments.
Late notices and shut off notices are based on the number of days without a payment – NOT the amount of the bill. Our computer system does not automatically let us know who to send notices to and who to shut off – we must do that manually, customer by customer, and that takes a lot of time. If you are shut off due to non-payment, you will be charged a reinstatement fee and the full balance must be paid by cash, money order or bank check before you are re-energized. Additionally, payments made to AVOID termination of service must be made in cash, money order or bank check – NOT UNIPAY!!!!!
In the past, CMELD has gone beyond making sure that no one was without electricity due to paying late, or not paying at all until prodded. Going forward, it is time for our customers to handle paying these bills without having us remind them. If your account remains unpaid, it may be turned over to a collection agency and subsequently reported to the Credit Bureau.
Please make sure that we have your current telephone numbers(s) and email addresses. We do understand that U.S. Mail has been an issue with some customers, and we can only mail bills to the addresses that you supply us.
Payment and budget plans are available, as well as financial assistance through government programs, if you are eligible. Your account must be CURRENT with CMELD to get on a payment or budget plan.
Please feel free to contact this office at (413) 354-7811 if you have any questions.