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Billing FAQ
Why does my bill seem high?
There are a variety of factors to consider when reviewing your bill. Consider the following:
What type of home are you in?
The characteristics of your home can have a large impact on the amount of water or electricity used, especially when electricity is being used for heating and cooling. Larger spaces require more energy to cool, multiple rooms or high ceilings can negatively affect efficiency, corner units have twice the number of exposed outdoor walls as interior units, and higher floor apartments tend to be warmer than lower floor apartments. A combination of these factors can affect electricity and water efficiency by 10-40%.
What has the weather been like where you live?
In the Spring and Fall in most of the Midwest, temperatures are more moderate, which means your A/C and heat do not have to run as much to keep your home at a comfortable temperature. This leads to lower energy bills. In the summer and winter, temperatures are more extreme, meaning that your air has to run longer to keep your home cool, and your heat has to run longer to keep your home warm. This will lead to higher energy bills due to higher usage.
Is your apartment thermostat set to “Emergency Heat” mode?
Many apartments are heated using a heat pump, which works by extracting heat from the outside air and pumping that heat into your unit. Unfortunately, at a certain temperature, typically less than 15 degrees Fahrenheit, the air is so cold that the heat pump is unable to extract any warm air. When this occurs, heat pumps have a setting called “Emergency Heat.” This setting, depending on the type of heat pump, may be triggered manually or automatically. In essence, “Emergency Heat” turns on a large radiant heat coil similar to what you see in an electric stove. This coil assists in raising the temperature in the unit. However radiant heating is very inefficient and consumes significantly larger amounts of electricity than if your heat pump was just working on its own. The use of emergency heat, while sometimes necessary to maintain comfort levels, will cause a spike in energy usage and result in a higher bill.
Did you have gas heat where you previously lived?
The majority of apartment properties use electricity not only to power the outlets in your unit but also to heat and cool your unit via a heat pump or baseboard heating. If your previous community used gas heating you will need to include the cost of your gas bill as well as your electricity bill to compare costs at your new community.
Do you have any faucets that are dripping or toilets that are constantly running?
Dripping faucets and running toilets may not seem like a big deal, but they can lead to surprise high water bills. It’s important to get issues like this fixed by either calling a plumber or your property management maintenance team.
How is my usage calculated & how is my rate calculated?
Actual usage is calculated with a meter read system. The sensors track the consumption as it is being used. Your usage data is based on actual reads (when applicable) instead of averages or estimations each month.
Your actual usage is the difference between the Prior Meter Read, and the Current Meter Read. Electric usage is always in kilowatt hours (kWh) and water usage is either in Gallons or Cubic Feet.
All metered services are billed from your actual usage and charged at public rates. In some cases, residents may be charged a flat water/sewer rate each month if individual meters are unable to be installed at the current time. This flat rate is based on the total community usage.
Why do I have multiple usage line items?
On your bill, each line that includes a Meter Number and an Actual Usage number refers to each different utility that you consume that we provide billing services for. For example, electric and water.
For your convenience, we combine them into one bill for ease of payment.
How do I sign up for automatic payments?
Start by creating an online account here. Within your online account, you can sign up for automatic payments via Electronic Bank Transfer (ACH), or Credit Card.
If setting up an automatic payment after the 8th day of the month, the payment will not pull for the current month, and a second one-time payment must be made for the current month. Your autopay will begin the following month if setting up after the 8th.
Please note that if you sign up for auto-pay your payment will automatically withdraw from your account 2 days before the stated due date.
PROCESSING FEES FOR PAYMENT METHODS:
ELECTRONIC BANK TRANSFERS
There is a $1.75 Processing Fee for ACH Electronic Bank Transfer payments made by bank account and routing number.
CREDIT & DEBIT CARDS
Payments made by credit or debit cards will incur a 3.75% processing fee (with a $2.75 minimum processing fee) per transaction.
What is a paper bill fee and can I go paperless?
A $1.75 fee will be included per printed bill. This charge solely covers the cost of mailing your bill. If you are interested in receiving paperless bills, log in to your online account, you can elect to stop receiving paper bills in the mail, and only receive bill notifications via email.
My power is out. Who do I contact?
Check out our Power Outage page on the Pioneer Energy Management website to see if your property has already been reported or you may fill out a form to report our property.
What is the difference between a transmission charge and a distribution charge?
Transmission and distribution charges are common charges from the host utility provider that you’ll see on your bill.
A transmission charge is a cost to deliver electricity from the power-generating facility. Electricity is moved from natural gas, coal, or nuclear power plants to the utility’s electric substations.
If you see a distribution charge on your bill, this accounts for the local poles and wires that distribute electricity to your home.
What is the “common area” usage charge?
Common area usage (CAU) is the energy and water usage of the shared or common areas of your property. Some examples of common areas include street lights, pools, tennis courts, irrigation systems, club houses, etc. In some cases, to provide you with greater transparency of usage, your property elects to have PEM bill for the common area usage, rather than including these charges in your base rent. These charges are also typically outlined in your lease.
Why do I receive bills from Pioneer Energy Management (PEM)?
Pioneer Energy Management is the parent company of Submeter Solutions. Together, we offer a wide-range of soltuions from meter equiptment sales, system design and installing to billing services. PEM handles all of the customer billing accounts.
Sometimes, depending on the development, it is not an option for a property to be a direct customer of the City Utility or a Host Utility Company.
Other times, a host utility may provide the energy to your community, but your community may hire Pioneer Energy Management to help with the large task that is reading meters, billing for consumption, and collecting payments. We are a service provider who can help with all of that, plus offer direct Customer Support for tenants.
How do I avoid a payment processing fee?
What is your Return Payment Policy?
Why did I receive a late fee?
If we do not receive a payment for your full balance by the due date listed on your bill, a fee of 15% of any past due balance may be charged to you account.