Budget Billing Program

To help prevent unexpectedly high utility bills during winter and summer months, the City of Morganton offers the "Budget Billing" program for residential electric utility customers. Budget Billing allows customers to make fixed monthly payments.

Enroll In Budget Billing

When customers enroll in Budget Billing, staff reviews the customer's utility history for the past year, calculates the monthly average and sets that amount as the customer's fixed monthly payment. This amount is based on previous usage and is not negotiable.

Customers can enroll in Budget Billing from June through August. To get the most benefit from the program, customers should enroll in June.

The Budget Billing cycle runs from July 1 through June 30. In June, customers will receive a credit if they used less utilities than expected, or they will have to make a payment if they used more utilities than estimated.

To qualify for Budget Billing, customers must:

• have been a residential electric customer with the City of Morganton for at least one year
• have always paid bills on time for 12 months
• have never written a bad check to the City of Morganton within the past 12 months

Current Budget Billing Customers

Customers currently enrolled in Budget Billing will receive a letter before the start of the new yearly cycle telling them their new budget bill amount. Current Budget Billing customers must sign and return that letter to stay enrolled in Budget Billing.

A customer may opt-out of Budget Billing at any time during the Budget Billing cycle, but they must immediately pay any balance owed.

For more information on Budget Billing, call (828) 438-5244, or visit the Utility Payment Desk in City Hall.