Wake Electric Membership Corporation is an electric cooperative. As a consumer, you share ownership in Wake Electric with customers in seven counties – Durham, Franklin, Granville, Johnston, Nash, Vance and Wake counties. Each year you have the right to vote for the representatives who will serve on the Cooperative’s board of directors. The board of directors sets policies that determine how Wake Electric operates.
Wake Electric’s Service Rules and Regulations are a part of the Service Agreement between the Cooperative and the Member. These rules and regulations list requirements for the Cooperative to provide electric service and for you the member-consumer to receive electric service.
We take pride in providing you with quality service. Quality service is our most important product. We will try to maintain the quality service that you expect and deserve; however, we cannot guarantee continuous and uninterrupted electric service.
The general summary of your rights to service are as follows:
1. You have the right to electric service if you establish satisfactory credit and provide the Cooperative with necessary and reasonable access to your property for your electric service and that of neighboring property.
2. You have the right to establish your credit in any one of three ways: (1) the Cooperative will perform a credit check to determine if a deposit is required; (2) you may make a cash deposit; (3) you may provide a Member in good standing to guarantee payment of your bills up to the amount of the deposit. The Cooperative will endeavor to fully explain all means of establishing credit.
3. Any cash deposit you make will be refundable after twenty-four (24) consecutive months, in the form of a credit to the 25th bill, provided the member has fulfilled all obligations provided for in the service agreement. A deposit may be required at any time if the Member payment record falls below that of a Member in good standing.
4. You have 25 days after the billing date shown on your electric bill to pay your electric bill. After 25 days, the bill will be considered past due and a late charge will be added to your account.
5. The Cooperative will notify you with the next month’s bill that you have a past due account and the date for which service is subject for disconnection. Accounts will be subject to disconnection without further notice. In the event you are unable to pay the bill, you may contact the Cooperative’s office prior to the disconnection date to discuss possible payment arrangements. Failure to receive a bill shall not exempt the Member from payment of a bill or service charge..
6. As a Member, you can name another person to receive a copy of your electric bill. This person may be able to help you avoid having your electric service disconnected but is not obligated to pay the bills.
7. You have the responsibility to notify the Cooperative in writing if there is someone in your household who is either chronically or seriously ill, disabled or on an electrically operated life support system. In that case, you have the right to special handling of your account should service become subject to disconnection for your failure to pay your electric bills.
8. If there is a person 65 years or older or a disabled person in your household and if you are eligible and certified to receive energy assistance from the local social services department and if you cannot pay your account by installments, the Cooperative cannot disconnect your service between November 1 and March 31 without notifying the North Carolina Rural Electrification Authority.
9. The Cooperative will not disconnect electric service after 4:00 p.m. on a Friday or on a weekend or a legal holiday for non-payment. (Prepay accounts are excluded from this policy).
10. You have the right to have the Cooperative test your electric meter for accuracy and to receive a report of the test results. A fee, paid in advance, will be charged for the testing for any meter which has been tested within the past year; the fee will be refunded if the meter is found to be outside acceptable accuracy limits.
11. A new member guidebook is available at www.wemc.com and upon request including, but not limited to, explanation of Cooperative principles, bylaws, rates, meter reading, rebates, loans, reporting of power failure and conservation practices when you are accepted for membership in the Cooperative. The Cooperative will send you upon request, without charge, a copy of your billing information for the past twelve months.
12. A full and prompt investigation will be made of all service complaints. The recommended order for handling quality-of-service or billing complaints is as follows:
- File a complaint at the local Cooperative office and allow reasonable time for investigation, advice, and action. If the results are not satisfactory, then:
- File a complaint with the Cooperative’s manager, providing information and results from the initial complaint and/or naming local Cooperative personnel who handled the complaint. Allow reasonable time for the manager to act. If the results are still not satisfactory, then:
- File a complaint with the North Carolina Rural Electrification Authority in Raleigh, 4321 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, North Carolina 27699, 919-733-7513. Allow reasonable time for the Authority to act.
- If results are still not satisfactory, file a written complaint with the Cooperative’s board of directors. Allow reasonable time for the board to act.
13. You may request and have installed by the Cooperative at your expense, types of service that exceed what is normally supplied, provided that they meet the general conditions in the Service Rules and Regulations. If you need such services, please call us.
14. As a Member of this Cooperative, you will share in margins called Capital Credits, which are assigned in the Members’ names. The refunding of Capital Credits is at the discretion of the board of directors.