Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Paying Your Power Bill At Partner Organizations

The Johnson City Power Board (JCPB) offers its customer owners a variety of convenient methods to pay their monthly bill. Included in these is a partnership with three local banks that have been authorized by JCPB to accept payments on its behalf. JCPB customers may pay their bill at any local First Tennessee or Johnson City Federal Credit Union branch so long as they hold an account with them. JCPB bills may also be paid at any local Bank of Tennessee branch regardless of whether or not they are account holders at the bank.

While the above relationships are officially recognized and authorized by JCPB, there are a number of other stores and banks that accept payments to remit on the customer's behalf. However, these services are not sponsored by the JCPB and are sometimes problematic for the customers using them. To better understand the differences between how payments to an official partner versus any other service/organization are received by JCPB, please consider the following.

Payments to Authorized Organizations:
  • Only local branches of First Tennessee, Johnson City Federal Credit Union, and Bank of Tennessee have been authorized by JCPB to accept payments on behalf of its customers.
  • Payments received at these locations are time-stamped and applied directly to customers' accounts without delay. This means that paying a JCPB bill at one of the above locations is essentially the same as paying it directly to JCPB.
Payments to Unauthorized Organizations:
  • These include online payment services from banks and counter services at department stores (i.e. Wal-Mart)
  • Payments received through these services are not recognized by JCPB until the funds arrive.
  • Payments to these services are typically sent to JCPB as a cashiers’ check written on the customer's behalf and sent through the mail. This process may result in the funds arriving at JCPB several days after they were originally submitted by the customer.
  • Customers using unauthorized organizations will be held accountable for when their funds actually arrive at JCPB's offices. This means that if a customer pays a bill through a third-party organization and the funds are delivered to JCPB after the payment was due, their account will be subject to any applicable fees and penalties including disconnection of electrical services.
To ensure that your payments are received in a timely manner, please take advantage of one of JCPB's many convenient payment options. Pay online at jcpb.com; over the phone at (423) 282-JCPB (5272); at any of our official partner organizations (listed above); or in person at 2600 Boones Creek Rd. in Johnson City. If you do choose to use your bank's online bill pay service or another unauthorized organization or service, please do so well in advance of your bill's due date and with a clear understanding of the potential consequences.

If you have any questions about how to pay your JCPB electric bill, call (423) 282-JCPB (5272) to speak with a customer service advocate or email us at pr@jcpb.com.