Card Processing Fee Change- Effective June 8, 2025
When you make a payment using a credit card or debit card, the card processing facility charges the cooperative a fee. These fees help cover the cost of securely processing your payment, preventing fraud, and ensuring a smooth transaction. This is a standard practice for businesses that accept credit/debit card payments.
Credit card processing companies charge us fees for handling these transactions, and over time, the use of credit/debit cards and their subsequent fees have grown to a level that requires us to take action. To continue offering the option to pay by credit/debit card, our Board of Directors made the decision to allocate the incurred costs fairly among members based on the payment method they use, rather than having all members share these expenses.
What Does This Mean for You?
Beginning June 8, all payments made by credit/debit card will include a 2.45% fee. The fee will only apply when you pay with a credit card/debit card. Members who utilize alternate means of payment will not be affected. You can still use check, e-check, bank draft, mail-in payments, or in-person payment methods that do not incur processing fees. For a complete list of payment options, please visit our website at www.bcec.com. Please note: payments made over the phone with a representative will still incur the $4.95 convenience fee, as has been the standard in the past.
We understand that additional charges are never welcome, and this decision was made with careful consideration. The fee helps cover the costs of card processing, and it is not a way for us to make a profit. This approach also helps us better control costs across the cooperative.
We are dedicated to serving our members and ensuring we continue to deliver the best service possible. If you have questions or need help with alternative payment methods, please reach out to us at 903-846-2311. We’re here to help!
Rate Change- Effective April 1, 2025
As a not-for-profit, member-owned cooperative, our primary goal is to deliver the safe, reliable, and affordable service you expect. However, like most businesses in recent years, we’ve been affected by rising operational costs. These inflationary pressures, coupled with limited growth in membership, have led us to the point where a rate adjustment has become necessary. It’s important to note that our operating expenses are driven by member requests for service and essential system maintenance—both of which are vital and cannot be delayed. Despite this, we’re proud that we’ve managed to avoid significant rate changes since the fall of 2017.
To ensure fairness and accuracy in assessing the true cost of service for each class of membership, we engaged Guernsey Engineering, a reputable third-party firm, to conduct a comprehensive rate study. Over the course of 2024, we carefully reviewed the findings, and after thorough discussions, the results led to the adoption of these necessary adjustments.
For context, our current rate schedule was established in 1993. Since then, while we have made minor adjustments—primarily to the customer service charge and the Power Cost Recovery Factor (PCRF) to reflect wholesale power cost increases—the rate for electricity consumption (measured in kilowatt-hours or kWh) has remained unchanged. This rate adjustment incorporates a blending of the old rate structure with the PCRF, as well as a blending of the winter and summer rates for residential and small commercial members. These two adjustments are considered “rate neutral,” meaning they are designed to balance out the overall impact on members.
To help you better understand the specifics of these changes, we have included a detailed Summary of Rates, which outlines the adjustments for each member class. These changes went into effect on April 1, 2025.