Plan Overview
SCE’s Budget Billing Plan offers eligible customers the opportunity to pay for their annual electricity service across 11 equal monthly payments.
What is the Budget Billing Plan?
The Budget Billing Plan is a 12-month program SCE offers eligible customers to help pay for their annual electricity service across 11 equal monthly payments. This plan does not reduce the amount of your bill — you’re still responsible for paying the full cost of the energy you use, but you can split the cost into equal payments throughout the year.
You can sign up any time, but we recommend that you have at least 12 months of electricity usage history at one address and that you start the program with a “zero” balance.
How It Works
First, we take the sum for your previous 12 months of electricity usage. Then, we divide the total by 11 to calculate the monthly base payment amount for the next 11 months (the monthly base amount is subject to change). On the 12th month, you will receive a settlement bill showing either a payment due or a credit balance. This amount equals the sum of your energy usage throughout your Budget Billing Plan year.
Changes to Your Payment Amount
The Budget Billing Plan payment amount may be adjusted every quarter in Months 3, 6, or 9 if there is a substantial change in the amount of electricity you use.
You can also change your payment amount if you use more or less electricity than you did before. If you use less electricity, you may call to have your payment amount adjusted. However, the settlement process in Month 12 remains the same.
Continued Participation
If choose to participate in the program again at the end of the initial 12-month period, you will start over at “Month One.” The settlement statement you get in “Month 12” shows the balance amount based on the difference between the actual amount of electricity you used throughout the year compared to the total amount paid during the same period.
Cancellations
You can cancel your BBP participation any time after you receive your settlement statement from your previous Budget Billing Plan participation period.
Eligibility Requirements
Am I Eligible?
You may qualify for the Budget Billing Plan if your account meets the following criteria:
- The base amount must be $5 or greater.
- Account must be active with at least one active or pending Contract(s) attached.
- Account must be in an eligible rate category.
- Account cannot be on hold or reviewed by the Revenue Services Organization (RSO).
- Account cannot be under credit review (e.g., returned checks, multiple extensions, installment plan, and disconnects)
- Account cannot be enrolled in both Budget Assistant and Budget Billing Plan.
- Account cannot be enrolled in Net Energy Metering (NEM).
- If the account is Joint Billed, all the Contracts under that Contract Account will need to be on the Budget Billing Plan.
Eligible Rate Categories
The following rate categories are eligible to participate in BBP:
- D-CARE / D-CARE-SDP
- DE / DE-SDP
- D-FERA
- DM
- Domestic
- MB-E (Medical Baseline Exemption)
- TOU-D-4
- TOU-D-5
- TOU-D-PRIME
- TOU-D-T / TOU-CARE
- TOU-GS-1
In addition, CCA accounts may enroll in the Budget Billing Plan. NEM accounts are not eligible to enroll.