Lassen Municipal Utility District General Manager Nick Dominguez travels to Sacramento Wednesday to testify before the Assembly Local Government Committee is support of Assembly Bill 1945 — a bill designed to allow the publicly owned utility district’s customers to pay in advance for energy use as a credit rather than receive a bill after usage. Municipal Utility Districts currently lack the statutory authority to offer this billing alternative.
AB1945 allows LMUD to offer ratepayers a prepay billing option. Specifically, this bill authorizes a district furnishing electrical service to fewer than 100,000 customers to offer consumers a prepay option for electrical service if the consumer opts in.
By allowing customers to prepay for electric service, AB 1945 provides ratepayers with an additional tool to manage household expenses, track usage more closely, and avoid costly bills and fees. Under this bill, traditional billing options are preserved and participation in the program must be voluntary. The bill also requires a district to provide up-to-date balance information and low-balance alerts…