Billing Questions
Whether you are looking for your balance and due date, checking our contact information, or seeking available payment options, we are sure you will find your Mississippi Power bill easy to read.
Overview of Paper Bill
13-month usage chart - Mississippi Power's usage information chart gives you at-a-glance information about your power usage over a rolling 13-month period. Quickly see your total power usage by month and your average daily usage.
Clear contact information - We know that sometimes you may need to contact us. That's why we've put all the information you'll need, like our contact numbers and website address, plus your account number, right at the top of your bill. You can quickly find our customer service number, how to report an outage, or how to pay your bill.
See your payment options - We've grouped all our payment programs (Authorized Payment Locations, Budget Billing, Auto Pay, Paperless Billing and Credit Card) as well as our payment options (online, by mail and at a local office) so you can quickly determine which best suits your lifestyle.
Two-sided bill - Your Mississippi Power bill is two-sided. On the front you'll find a summary of your current bill, information on how to contact us, timely updates and promotions, and your usage history. On the back you can see the details of your current bill and information about payment programs. Your account number, due date and total due are clearly displayed on both sides of your bill.
Bill Alerts
Signing up for Bill Alerts makes it easy to keep track of your account and bill due date.
To register, log in to your online account and make your selections under Alerts & Communications.
Causes of Change to Your Bill
Sometimes it may seem like your electric bill is a moving target, and it can be depending on a number of factors. The good news is - with a little know-how and the right action - you have control to help manage most of them.
Weather
No, you can't control Mother Nature, which is the most common cause of bill fluctuations because about half of our home energy costs come from heating and cooling. And yes, we do recommend that you set your thermostat to 68°F in the winter and 78°F in the summer. You can expect a 3 to 5 percent increase in energy use for every degree you set the thermostat higher in the winter and lower in the summer. Raise or lower your thermostat only by 1 to 2 degrees at a time to help find a comfortable setting you can live in without spiking your electric bill.
Longer billing cycle
Like on a calendar, not all billing months are the same amount of days. Some will have more billing days than average in the billing period. Refer to the 'Service Period' on your bill for the length of the billing cycle to know when this occurs. Log in to your account to view your most recent bill.
A full house
On special times like holidays and school vacations, more people and activity at home can take more energy for everything from heating or cooling to powering ovens, game consoles and more. Log in to review your usage and compare to last year.
Pricing, costs and adjustments
You may experience a higher bill if the price of electricity increased due to a pricing adjustment that occurred during the year.
Seasonal pricing - the cost for electricity for residential customers is based on a seasonal rate schedule, where prices vary with the time of year. Summer pricing (June through September) is higher because it costs more to produce electricity in the summer when demand for electricity is higher than it is other times of the year. Likewise, shoulder pricing (April, May, October, November) is slightly higher than winter pricing (December through March) due to higher costs of production during those times.
If you had a bill that was higher and the usage was about the same in the previous month, this likely occurred because of seasonal rate changes. Since comparing bills between different seasons is like comparing apples and oranges, it is better to compare your usage and bill to months in the same season - July to August, for example. Learn more about pricing and rates.
Fuel cost adjustments
Each year, the company files a report with the Mississippi Public Service Commission (PSC) regarding costs of fuel necessary to generate electricity.
We use a disciplined strategy to project the exact amount of fuel necessary to generate electricity for our customers and file this annually with the PSC. However, fuel costs can vary from projections. So when prices are lower than expected, the benefit is passed on to customers and when fuel cost is higher than expected, the PSC allows the company to recover the difference. Mississippi Power does not earn a profit on fuel consumed. Learn more about pricing and rates.
Environmental costs
Like fuel costs, we set detailed plans to comply with state and federal environmental rules and regulations. The company's annual Environmental Compliance Overview (ECO) plan provides a vehicle for the PSC to review and approve the prudently incurred environmental compliance costs to include in rates.