Duke Energy rolls out free tools to control your energy bills

Duke Energy says it has launched new services giving customers in Charlotte and elsewhere more control over how much energy they use.

One of the services automatically sends customers an email halfway through the monthly billing cycle detailing the bill’s current amount and an estimate of the final total. The alerts can also be received as text messages, the Charlotte-based company said.

Another service sends customers alerts when their bill is expected to hit a certain dollar amount the customer chooses. Duke said the information could help customers curb energy use to stay within personal budgets.

Duke also said customers can pick billing due dates, an option the company said will provide customers more payment flexibility. Duke noted that there are certain eligibility requirements for the service but said typical residential customers should be eligible.

All of the services are free and available to customers who have one of Duke’s new “smart meters,” which the company continues to install across its service territory. The meters send energy-usage data to Duke and customers through radio waves, eliminating the need for workers to physically read meters on site.

Duke said hundreds of thousands of the new meters have been installed so far for customers of Duke Energy Carolinas’, the utility that serves Charlotte and the western half of the state.

This story was originally published July 20, 2017 at 1:49 PM with the headline "Duke Energy rolls out free tools to control your energy bills."