Indian Electric is a co-operative operating in northeastern Oklahoma. Its service area includes Pawnee, Osage, Creek, Payne, Noble, Kay and Tulsa counties. The city of Tulsa is the largest municipality served by Indian. Indian was incorporated in 1939 and now serves roughly 14,000 customers. It employs 81 people and is headquartered in Cleveland, with a regional office in Fairfax. To learn how to save money on your Indian Electric bill, read on.
Budget Billing
Indian Electric Cooperative offers a service called budget billing. This service allows you to average your last 12 months of bills and pay that average as your next charge. People who occasionally have months where their electricity consumption is very high could save money by taking advantage of this service. The 12 months that are taken into consideration in the average are counted on a rolling basis. This means that every month the oldest month using the previous calculation is dropped. Of course, the current month’s bill is also part of this calculation. To set up budget billing, all you have to do is call and speak to one of their customer service representatives.
Capital Credits
Indian Electric Cooperative, as with all electric cooperatives, does not keep any profits. It returns profits to the members in the form of capital credits. There is no guarantee that there will be profits to be returned to the members, but if there are, the members can either get a check or a credit towards their bill. Indian strives to run everything at cost instead of being a profit-focused organization. This means that they are often capital credits available for its members. The amount of the credit that a member gets depends on their electricity usage.
Rebates for Replacing Old Appliances
Indian Electric offers a unique program where members replacing their appliances can get rebates. If you are already needing to replace your water heater or other appliance, you can apply for a rebate with Indian to help you save money. This rebate will be mailed to your home in the form of a check. It’ll take six to eight weeks, depending on how busy Indian is. Not only will using rebates help you save on the purchase of appliances, a new or more energy efficient appliance will help you save money on your power bill.
Getting Help From the Oklahoma LIHEAP
Oklahoma has one of the most comprehensive low-income home energy assistance programs (also known as LIHEAP) in the country. It is a federally funded program that provides assistance to nearly 200,000 low-income households in the state of Oklahoma every year. It is only able to provide assistance with the cost of home energy. Keep in mind that the funding for the LIHEAP may change year to year based on the money it gets from the federal government.
For now, it’ll help you with a one-time payment for a primary cooling utility bill during the summer cooling enrollment period. This usually runs from June to August, but it may change. You should check the Oklahoma LIHEAP website to make sure you have the correct dates.
There is also a winter heating program. This program usually runs from November to January. The LIHEAP can help you with a one-time payment for your heating utility bills during the winter.
The other program offered by the LIHEAP is called the Energy Crisis Assistance Program. It is only available intermittently between these summer and winter programs. This emergency fund is available for people who have had their power cut off within the last 3 days. It also applies to people who have had their power company refuse to deliver fuel, or who have received an analysis notice from their power company. To qualify for these programs, you meet certain income requirements. These income requirements change from time to time, so you should check the LIHEAP website to ensure you meet them.
There is also a weatherization assistance program available for low-income residents of Oklahoma. This federally-funded program offers free or low-cost installation of wall and attic insulation, caulking, and weather-stripping. Improved insulation will reduce your heating and cooling needs, which can in turn decrease your energy bill dramatically.