Rules & Regulations – Prepaid Payment Program

VI. Prepaid Payment Program

The North Little Rock Electric Department (NLRED) Prepaid program offers residential and some commercial customers the ability to have greater control of their account management. Under the program, customers prepay for service and may avoid paying security deposits.
However, the customer is subject to immediate disconnection if account reaches or falls below a zero balance.

If disconnected, restoration of electric service will usually occur within minutes after an adequate payment has been made and confirmed, but nearly always within 4 hours unless factors outside of NLRED’s control prevent reconnection.

A. Participation

  1. The customer must be registered with NLRED’s My Account and add their phone contact if they want to receive text messages regarding their prepaid account / balances. Registered customers are automatically enrolled into receiving prepaid notifications via Email and need to Opt-in into receiving texts.
  2. The customer cannot be enrolled on our Levelized billing, Senior Citizen program, Preauthorized Payment (PAP), Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT), Net Metering, have a payment arrangement or a 320 amp service.
  3. Prepaid participants will not receive a paper bill, but are able to view their bill and usage 24 hours/day, 7 days/week via https://nlrelectric.com/my-account/,the NLRED Mobile application, or by calling 501-975-8888.

B. Enrollment

  1. Customers must pay an initial minimum credit of $50 that will be used to fund the account. Thereafter the minimum credit payment will be $25.
  2. Current customers with an account with a past due balance or with bad debt from prior accounts will be required to pay the outstanding account balance(s) prior to switching to Prepaid. However, if the customer is unable to pay the full amount owed, the customer may be given the opportunity to agree to a Prepaid Arrangement. (see Prepaid Arrangements below).

C. Transition to Post Pay/Traditional Billing (billed monthly after consumption)

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

D. Deposits

  1. Deposits for Prepaid customers are not required.
  2. 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 Prepaid account as a credit.

E. Notifications

  1. Prepaid customers have the sole responsibility for accessing and reviewing their account information. Prepaid account information is provided 24 hours/day, 7 days/week via https://nlrelectric.com/my-account/, the NLRED Mobile application, or
    by calling 1-501-975-8888.
  2. Prepaid customers must maintain either email or SMS/text to receive alerts on their account. It is suggested that customer takes advantage of both types of alerts available to avoid a single point of communication failure.
  3. It is the customer’s responsibility to ensure that all phone numbers and e-mail addresses are up-to-date, accurate, and can be received by their device(s).
  4. When choosing SMS/text as a communications method, the customer will be responsible for all SMS/text messaging charges.

F. Disconnects

  1. Prepaid customers agree that their service may be disconnected when their account reaches or falls below a zero balance.
  2. Service shall be disconnected 24 hours/day, 7 days/week.
  3. Any tampering related activity will subject the account to immediate disconnection and any relevant fees must be paid before the service is reconnected.
  4. Unless the customer closes the account, any Prepaid service which has been disconnected will continue to incur the customer charge. The account will be closed following ten (10) days of continuous disconnection. For the account to be reactivated the enrollment process applies per the Enrollment guidelines above.

G. Connects/Reconnects

  1. A disconnected customer must pay an amount to establish a minimum credit of $25 before the account will be eligible for reconnect.
  2. 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 NLRED’s control prevent reconnection. No customer notification will occur
    prior to reconnection.
  3. 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, HV AC systems, etc. are turned off before making their payment to get connected.

H. Payment Plan/Calculations

  1. A Prepaid customer’s account balance will be recalculated and updated on a daily basis at 8:00am (365 days/year) and are billed at the appropriate rate schedule.
  2. The daily billing includes the customer charge, energy consumption, any relevant charges associated with the account, and taxes.

I. Payment Methods

  1. NLRED accepts the following payment methods:
    • a. Cash
    • b. Credit/Debit card
    • c. eCheck
  2. Customer’s may pay using the following channels:
    • a. Mobile App
    • b. Customer Portal (www.nlrelectric.com/my-account)
    • c. Phone (501-975-8888)
    • d. Cash Payments can be made at our Drive-thru during office hours or participating MoneyGram sites.
  3. Customers making payments via mail remittance should be aware that delays in mail delivery and other issues, such as lost mail, may result in service disconnection.

J. Returned Items

In the event of a payment to a Prepaid account being returned from the financial institution, the amount of the original payment will be deducted from the customer’s account balance along with the applicable returned items fee . 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.

K. Prepaid Arrangements

  1. A Prepaid Arrangement is available to existing customers with an outstanding balance and to previous customers having an unpaid final account.
  2. Fifty percent (50%) of all payments will first be applied to the Prepaid Arrangement balance owed; the remaining 50% of the payment will be applied to the account.
  3. A limit of $500 is the maximum amount allowed in the Prepaid Arrangement. If the amount owed by the customer is greater than $500 (net of any applied on-hand deposit), funds must be paid to bring the amount to the maximum cap amount.
  4. Penalties cannot be included in the Prepaid Arrangement and must be paid in full.
  5. Any outstanding balance in the Prepaid Arrangement must be paid in full before a customer can transition back to a post pay account.
  6. Prepaid customers are not permitted to make other payment arrangements.