Terms & Conditions

PrePay

The Georgia Power Company (“Georgia Power”) PrePay electric service program offers residential customers the ability to have greater control of their account management. Under the program, customers can avoid paying security deposits and reconnection fees. However, the customer is subject to immediate disconnection if their account balance reaches or falls below zero. If disconnected, restoration of electric service will usually occur within minutes after a payment has been made and confirmed, but nearly always within 4 hours unless factors outside of the Company’s control prevent reconnection. To participate in the PrePay program, customers must agree to the following terms and conditions.

 

Participation

Customers must have a 200 ampere (amp) electric service point on their residence as well as a Georgia Power remote connect/disconnect (“RC/DC”) meter, which can remotely connect or remotely disconnect service. If an RC/DC meter is not present, the customer agrees that one will be installed, at no charge to the customer, upon enrollment in the program. The customer’s meter must have sufficiently reliable communications with AMI infrastructure, as determined by the Company, to be enrolled.

A prospective PrePay customer cannot be on a life support system nor have an active medical letter, which prohibits disconnection of electric service, on file with the company. If a PrePay customer needs a life support system while an active prepay customer, the account will be moved back to a post-pay account. If a PrePay customer produces a medical letter while an active PrePay customer, the current medical letter procedures, as defined by the Georgia Public Service Commission Rule 515-3-2.03, will apply.

A PrePay customer may be ineligible for the PrePay tariff if such customer has an outstanding balance with Georgia Power, and such customer is a debtor in a bankruptcy proceeding that is dismissed without the debtor receiving a discharge of the outstanding balance. The customer will be notified via their preferred method of communication and the account will be closed within 10 days of notification, unless the outstanding balance is paid in full within such 10-day period. After such termination, any future service initiated with Georgia Power under any tariff will require a repayment of all outstanding balances at the time of service activation and, if applicable, a deposit.

 

Enrollment

During enrollment, the customer’s social security number, name, and address are requested.  If these are not provided, customers will be required to provide a picture ID and proof of residency. 

Customers must pay an initial credit of $40 that will be used to fund the account.

Georgia Power customers that are setting up a new service are required to pay a $30 Account Establishment Charge (“AEC”). Therefore, for these customers, the minimum amount required to establish PrePay service is $70.

Current customers with an account in arrears will be required to pay the outstanding account balance prior to switching to PrePay. However, if the customer is unable to pay the full amount owed, the customer may be given the opportunity to agree to a Deferred Payment Plan (see Deferred Payment Plan below).

Customers with charged-off accounts, in most cases, are required to pay a minimum of $70. The customer will also be requested to pay the charged-off amount. If there remains an outstanding balance after the request, the balance will be put into the customer’s Deferred Payment Plan provided the balance meets the limitations of the Plan.

 

Transition to Post Pay

PrePay customers agree that if they wish to return to a traditional post-pay account they will be subject to the same deposit and credit scoring requirements for post-pay accounts. If a deposit is required, they must pay the deposit in order to return to post-pay. If the customer has a remaining balance in the Deferred Payment Plan, the customer must also pay that balance before transitioning to post-pay. If there is an outstanding credit on the account, the balance will be credited to the post-pay account.

 

Deposits

Deposits and credit scoring for PrePay customers are not required.  When there is a deposit balance on the account, the deposit will first be applied to any arrears on the account.  Any remaining deposit amount will then be applied to the customer’s PrePay account as a credit. 

 

Access to Account and Usage Information

A PrePay customer’s account balance will be recalculated and updated on a daily basis.   PrePay customers have the sole responsibility for accessing and reviewing their account information. PrePay account information is provided 24 hours/day, 7 days/week via www.georgiapower.com as well as the Georgia Power Mobile application.  PrePay customers may select up to three methods to receive account notifications. These are selected by each PrePay customer at the time of enrollment.  

A link in the e-mail notification and/or text message notification will allow the PrePay customer to access their account for additional information and to make a payment, if desired. Additionally, a PrePay customer will be able to call Georgia Power at 1-888-660-5890 to check their account balance.  Further information regarding PrePay account management is available at www.georgiapower.com. 

Because PrePay customers will have access to account information in real time there will be no post-pay bill to dispute. Therefore, Georgia Public Service Commission (“Commission”) Rule 515-3-2-.06 does not apply.  Disputes related to any other aspect of service will be handled on an expedited basis.  

 

Notifications

PrePay customers must maintain at least one method of receiving alerts on their account. Georgia Power urges PrePay customers to select at least two methods to receive alerts to avoid a single point of communication failure. These methods may be through an email, SMS/text messages, an automated phone message, or a combination of two or three methods. A response from potential PrePay customers designating the method and their approval to send these messages is required.  It is the customer’s responsibility to ensure that their method of choice can receive the notifications being sent by Georgia Power, and the customer must ensure that all phone numbers and e-mail addresses are up-to-date and accurate.  When choosing SMS/text as a communications method, the customer will be responsible for all SMS/text messaging charges and the customers will also be required to agree to Georgia Power Company’s PrePay Messaging Terms of Use. These customers will indicate their approval by responding to the initial text message which will be sent at the time of enrollment.  If the terms and conditions are not accepted, or at least one communication channel is not maintained, the account will be removed from PrePay. If customers are removed from PrePay, they will be subject to the same deposit and credit scoring requirements for post-pay accounts.  

Notifications will be sent to the customer using the method of communication selected by the customer.  The notifications will be provided when account balances reach certain thresholds (measured by the number of days of electric service remaining).  PrePay account status notifications are sent when the account balance declines to designated levels of the number of estimated days of electric service remaining.  The notification will include an estimate of the number of days of electric service remaining on the account (based on average use) and the dollar amount remaining on the account. When the account reaches a zero dollar balance, a notification will be sent that the service is scheduled to be disconnected.  The service will be disconnected as soon as feasible.  When a payment is made and confirmed, and the credit applied brings the account to a minimum of five dollars ($5) positive balance, the service will be reconnected.  Restoration of the electric service will usually occur within minutes and nearly always within 4 hours unless factors outside of the Company’s control prevent reconnection.  The Company will send a notification when the customer’s service is reconnected.

 

Unpaid Electric Service

It is possible that a customer’s service will continue after the account has reached a zero balance but before disconnection. Such service is known as Unpaid Electric Service. Unpaid Electric Service will be comprised of a charge for the electricity consumed and accumulated fixed daily charges. When Unpaid Electric Service occurs, the account balance will become negative.  The customer will receive a balance notification on a daily basis reflecting the negative balance.  The Customer agrees that balance owed for Unpaid Electric Service must be paid back in full first, plus some additional funds to achieve a minimum of five dollars ($5) positive balance, to have the service reconnected.

The Basic Service Charge will be applied to the account on a daily basis.  Unless the customer closes the account, any PrePay service which has been disconnected due to a balance of zero or less will incur the Basic Service Charge for up to seven (7) days.  The account will be closed following seven (7) days of continuous disconnection.  For the account to be reactivated the enrollment process applies per the Enrollment guidelines above.

 

Disconnects

PrePay customers agree that their service will be disconnected when their account reaches or falls below a zero balance.  Commission Rules 515-3-2-.01(e) and 515-3-2-.02 shall not apply for PrePay customers since each rule contemplates a post-pay bill that has gone unpaid by a customer for a period of time.

On Monday through Saturday, service will be disconnected beginning at 8:15 AM.  During the day, when an account reaches a balance of less than, or equal to, zero dollars remaining, a notification  is sent to the customer via their selected means of communication  The process of disconnection will begin at 8:15 AM the morning of the following day except on Sundays and Georgia Power recognized holidays, which are, New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, the Friday following Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day, hereafter referred to as “holidays”. 

 

Connects/Reconnects

Most electric service connects/reconnects will usually occur within minutes after a payment has been made and confirmed, but nearly always within 4 hours unless factors outside of the Company’s control prevent reconnection.   The customer accepts all responsibility for the safety of the premise by ensuring that major equipment/appliances (i.e. loads) such as ovens, cook tops, water heaters, HVAC systems, etc. are turned off before making their payment to get connected.

 

Suspension of Disconnects and Repayment of Unpaid Electric Service

Disconnection will not occur during extreme weather events (as defined by the Georgia Public Service Commission), Sundays and holidays.  During these times, electric service will be maintained if the balance goes below zero.  This is called Unpaid Electric Service.   Customers agree that when making their next payment, they must first pay back the Unpaid Electric Service.  Any additional funds will be credited to the account. 

 

Payment Methods and Locations

PrePay customers may make payments using the following payment channels and methods:

 

Payment Channel	Methods
Georgia Power Company Mobile App	ACH (free), Debit card (free with login), Credit card, e-check
Georgia Power Company web site (georgiapower.com)	ACH (free), Debit card (free with login), Credit card, e-check
Authorized Payment Locations (APL’s)	Generally, cash only.
IVR and Bill Matrix web site	eCheck, debit card, and credit card (note: fees apply)

 

Customers are discouraged from making payments via mail remittance due to delays in mail delivery and other issues, such as lost mail, which may result in service disconnection. Likewise, payments made via drop box/night depository will not be applied to an account until the next business morning.

 

When using APL’s, customers assume responsibility for assuring payments are made at authorized locations. Authorized locations can be found by visiting www.georgiapower.com/APL .   Payments made at unauthorized 3rd party locations will not process in real time and delays in account postings may result in service disconnection. In such events, service will not be reconnected unless an additional payment is made using one of the payment channels listed above or until the payment is posted (which may take several days). Finally, Electronic Fund Transfer (“EFT”) transactions are not acceptable payments for PrePay.

 

Returned Items

In the event of a payment to a PrePay account being returned from the financial institution due to insufficient funds, the amount of the original payment will be deducted from the customer’s account balance along with the applicable returned items fee of $30.  The immediate deduction of these funds could put the account in danger of disconnect due to the amount of the funds remaining after the deduction.  In this case, the proper notifications will be sent to the customer and the disconnect schedule defined in this document under the Disconnects section will occur.

 

Deferred Payment Plan  

A Deferred Payment Plan is available to existing customers with an outstanding balance and previous customers having a charged off account.  When using a Deferred Payment Plan, PrePay customers agree that: (a) a twenty five percent (25%) portion of a payment will first be applied to the Deferred Payment Plan balance owed, any Unpaid Electric Service balance will be deducted from the remaining 75% and then any remaining amount of the payment will be applied to future electric service; (b), a cap of  $1,500 is the maximum amount allowed in the Deferred Payment Plan.  If the amount owed by the customer is greater than $1,500 (net of any applied on-hand deposit), funds must be paid to bring the amount to the maximum cap amount.  Each month, as part of the monthly reconciliation process, a 1.5% late payment charge will be applied to the total amount of the outstanding balance in the Deferred Payment Plan.  As previously noted, before a customer can transition back to a post-pay account the outstanding balance in the Deferred Payment Plan must be completely resolved.

 

Payment Arrangements

PrePay customers will not be permitted to make other payment arrangements.

 

Agency Pledges

Upon receipt of a pledge from an approved agency on behalf of a PrePay customer, the pledge is applied to the account just as it is for post-pay customers.  The account is noted that funds from a pledge are forthcoming.  When the pledge funds arrive, the funds are applied to the customer’s account. If the customer is in the Deferred Payment Plan, (a) twenty five percent (25%) portion of the payment will first be applied to the Deferred Payment Plan balance owed, (b) any Unpaid Electric Service balance will be deducted from the remaining 75% portion, and (c) any remaining amount of the payment will then be applied to future electric service.  The account will be recalculated with the credit from the Agency.  If the account at that time is in a PrePay Off status, a Customer Service Representative will review the account and determine if the pledge is enough to pay the account in full and process the PrePay On order.  If the funds are not enough to have the service reconnected, additional funds from the customer will be required.

 

Changes to These Terms and Conditions and Additional Information

These terms and conditions of PrePay Service may change over time and the most recent version will apply. Updates can be found on the Company’s website at this location:  www.georgiapower.com.

 

For additional information, please reference the most recent Pre-Pay Tariff at this location: https://www.georgiapower.com/residential/billing-and-rate-plans/pricing-and-rate-plans/prepay.html