Budget Billing

Your account must be current with no past due balance to participate in Budget Billing. Customers on Prepaid Advantage are not eligible to enroll.

To participate in the Annual Plan, you must have 12 months of billing/usage history at the location.

No previous billing history is required for the Quarterly Plan. Your monthly Budget Billing amount is based on characteristics of your home such as square footage and your heating source. (If you have not had service in your name for 12 consecutive months, please call us to enroll in Budget Billing.)

Budget Billing accounts with two consecutive missed payments will be automatically removed from the program and placed on regular billing. When the account is made current, customers may re-enroll in Budget Billing following one billing cycle.

• Requires that you have 12 months of billing history, either from you or a previous owner.
• Gives you the same energy bill for an entire year.
• Includes a settle-up in the 12th month of the plan when you pay your monthly plan amount PLUS either a charge or a credit based on the difference between your plan and your actual usage

• Requires no billing history. (Your monthly Budget Billing amount is based on characteristics of your home such as square footage and your heating source.)
• Gives you the same energy bill for three consecutive months.
• Automatically adjusts your bill every three months to ensure your usage is in line with your payments. (Adjustments are based on your average usage over the previous 12 months.)
• We will notify you of your new monthly amount one month in advance through a message on your bill. We will also send you an email or letter based on your preferred method of communication.
• There is no year-end settle-up to worry about. Any difference in what you've used versus what you paid at the end of the year is calculated into the next year's plan.

If you have not had service in your name for 12 consecutive months, you will need to call us to enroll in Budget Billing.

Otherwise, simply sign in or register for an online account. Once you’re logged in, select ‘Manage Programs’ on the right of your screen; and then find 'Budget Billing' in the list of programs to enroll.

You can also sign up on the Duke Energy mobile app. When logged in to the app, select 'Billing & Payment' from the menu, find 'Budget Billing' and click to enroll.

Annual Plan: Upon enrollment, the Budget Billing amount is calculated based on the billing/usage history of the location along with current electric rates. The Annual Plan gives you the same energy bill for an entire year. It includes a settle-up in month 12 of the plan, which will be either a charge or a credit based on the difference between your plan and your actual usage.

Quarterly Plan: If there are not 12 months of billing history at the location, the Budget Billing amount is based on the home’s characteristics such as square footage and heat source along with current electric rates. We’ll review and automatically recalculate your account every three months to balance out your actual usage versus your billed usage. Adjustments are based on your average usage over the previous 12 months. There is no year-end settle-up to worry about.

The Annual Plan provides the same energy bill for 12 months with no adjustments during the plan year. Therefore, you may owe a balance or get a credit on your 12th month's bill.

If you used more electricity than you paid for, you will be billed for the difference on your 12th month’s bill in addition to your monthly payment amount. If the balance is not paid in the 12th month, your accrued balance will carry forward to the next month's bill where you will owe the accrued amount plus your new Budget Billing amount.

If you paid for more electricity than you used, you will be billed for the difference on your 12th month's bill plus receive a credit. If your credit is more than your 12th month's bill, the credit will be applied to future bills until the credit amount is depleted.

No. Budget Billing is a free service.