Budget Billing Program

Budget Billing Information

Budget Billing enrollment opens once per year after September billing has completed. Enrollments for the October 2023 – September 2024 budget year will open on August 21, 2023 and close on September 30, 2023.  Please watch for more information in your August or September bill.

Guidelines for the Utility Budget Billing Program

How It Works

The budget billing program is a budgeting tool designed to evenly spread yearly utility costs specific to a residence into 12 equal monthly installments. This alleviates seasonal billing spikes during the winter and summer months when heating and cooling needs significantly increase electric usage and costs.

The budget year runs with billings in October and ending in September of the following year.  The budget billing plan is designed to receive 1 payment per month in the exact budget amount as calculated based on account history. Late payments may lead to an account being removed from budget billing and any delinquent account balance due immediately to avoid service interruption. The monthly budget amount is an estimate only and may be altered during the budget year.  Settlement of excessive overpayment/underpayment may be required prior to the end of the budget year.  

Who Can Enroll

Residential customers with a 12-month usage history at their current residence who are current on their account (no past due balance) are encouraged to participate. We are not able to offer the program to the following:

• Residential accounts with less than 12-month usage history
• Residential past due accounts
• Residential accounts that also are participants of fuel and/or cooling assistance
• Commercial or Business accounts

How to Sign Up

To enroll, email utilitybilling@salemva.gov during the enrollment period of August 21, 2023 – September 30, 2023.  Enrollment requests outside of the enrollment period will not be honored.  Please include the following information in your enrollment email:

• Full Account Number
• Service Address
• Account Name
• Valid telephone number

Already Enrolled?

If you are already enrolled in budget billing, you do not need to sign up again. Any difference between the previous year's monthly budget amount and actual monthly charges will be applied to the new budget calculation. The new monthly budget amount based on the most recent 12-month history will begin with October billing.