Merger Updates
Note from Chris Jones, President & CEO
With the holiday season comes a time for reflection.
This year has been historic in many ways. We have faced uncertainly and anxiety from extreme weather events and a global pandemic. It seems that everything has been different in 2020; change has been the only common thread.
Still, as we have done for more than 80 years, we have met these challenges head-on by demonstrating our resolve and focusing on maintaining our reliability and member service while protecting our members and employees. Safety and security remain at the forefront of our mission.
Along with the challenges, we have also had opportunities. The merger with the Murfreesboro Electric Department benefited both utilities and their customers/members. Some of these were immediate, and others are still unfolding. We will continue to see these benefits - and more - for years to come.
Bringing these two outstanding organizations together was a complex operation. One can’t help but be impressed with the hard work and dedication of both the legacy MED Team and the MTE Team. We have not only merged our two operating systems but seamlessly united into one cohesive team, focused on providing affordable, reliable, safe electricity and outstanding member service. The diligence involved in this transition has been a true testament to the commitment and character of employees who serve you.
These last five months have moved quickly, and I wanted to take this opportunity to update you on the achievements we have made in this short time.
- Chris Jones
Merging two great teams for better service.
We’re better together. Teams from both utilities are working together to improve service for our members in every department. We’ve highlighted a few things you might want to know.
Talk to real people
With 8 offices in Middle Tennessee, you can manage your account at the office closest to your home, work, or anywhere in between. Our offices are open 7:30 am – 5 pm Monday through Friday excluding holidays.
If you’d prefer to call us at 877-777-9020, our local Contact Center can help you manage all aspects of your account from 7 am to 7 pm Monday through Friday excluding holidays. This includes service requests, online account support, and so much more.
We even offer limited after hour support 24/7/365 when you call 877-777-9020 to pay your bill or report an outage.
Account options to make life easier
We offer a variety of account options to fit your lifestyle and make your life easier. This includes a variety of payment methods like credit/debit cards including American Express, myMTEMC app or online portal, Money Gram, or even using Apple Pay or Google Pay on your smartphone.
Take control of more than just how you pay your bill. Our billing options allow members to choose a method that is most convenient for them.
Levelized Billing is calculated by taking an average of the previous 12 months of electricity billing. Bills then adjust every month but are always based on the preceding 12-month average, which allows members to have a more consistently priced bill even during high-energy-consumption seasons. By reducing the variation in monthly bills, members can more accurately budget each month. This is perfect for members who want to smooth out the peaks and valleys in billing. The option does fluctuate slightly each month to account for energy consumption.
Levelized Billing is only available for residential members. To learn more or find out if you qualify, contact MTE at 877-777-9020, through a local area office, or our contact form.
Fixed Budget Billing allows members to pay fixed amounts each month calculated on their previous 12-month consumption. No matter your energy consumption, you’ll be charged the same amount on your monthly bill. Once a year, your account will be “settled up” and either a credit issued (if you’ve over-paid) or an adjustment added (if you’ve underpaid) based on actual use the previous 12 months. It's another convenient billing option for members, especially those who want a consistent monthly payment. Don’t forget that on an annual basis, you’re required to settle the amount of unused or overused energy consumption.
This option is only available for residential members. To learn more about how to sign up or if you qualify, contact MTE at 877-777-9020, a local area office, or through our contact form.
Prepay allows you to add money to your account before you the electricity is consumed, and we'll calculate your usage each day and deduct your consumption from your account's balance. This option is great for those who want to pay for their electricity as they go or avoid paying a deposit when establishing membership. Prepay allows you to add money through the myMTE app, over the phone, through Money Gram, or by stopping by one of our seven local offices. If you've already signed up and are looking for the terms and conditions, just click here.
This option is only available for residential members. To learn more about how to sign up or if you qualify, contact us at 877-777-9020, a local area office, or through our contact form.
Traditional billing is how members have paid for electricity for more than 80 years. At the end of your billing cycle, you pay for the energy consumed. This is great for those who aren't looking for a change and want to simply pay for what they use.
myMTEMC web app and online portal
Thousands of members use myMTEMC mobile app and web portal to manage their account. myMTEMC allows members to pay their bills, review energy usage, report outages, and more.
Sign up today and learn why our members enjoy myMTEMC.
Pick a due date or ask for an extension.
MTE members can choose their due date. Our Pick a Due Date program allows members to adjust when their monthly bill is due. This helps many members on fixed incomes, monthly paycheck schedules, and those who want a little more control on their account.
Life can get hectic, which is one of the reasons why we allow members to request payment extensions. Give us a call or swing by an office and our member service team can help you set one up.
Great energy programs and ideas
MTE employs experienced energy professionals to assist members with their energy efficiency needs. This means we’re able to create and recommend energy programs to make your life better.
Check out some of our most popular residential energy programs:
- Cooperative Solar offers members a chance to participate in a green energy program and support a local renewable program without installing solar panels on their roof.
- Green Match 100 is a program ensuring 100% renewable energy to members for only one cent per kWh over their normal rate.
Helping you save money and energy
Our energy services team offers more than just programs. We’re proactively reaching out to members to help them reduce their energy usage. When you save energy, you’ll save on your monthly bill.
If you have a question about a high bill or how to improve your energy efficiency, a local energy expert can review your hourly, daily, and monthly usage on myMTEMC with you to identify ways to save. If you’ve got a question, give our energy services team a call at 1-877-490-9325.
Learn how you use energy with myMTEMC
Members learn more about how they use energy with myMTEMC. They can now check their hourly readings along with their daily and monthly usage online or on their mobile device. Understanding how and when you use electricity can help you manage your consumption.
If you have questions about how to read the usage graphs or are curious about the information you see, our energy services team are available to help you.
MTE helps make your home more efficient.
- Home Uplift allows MTE to partner with TVA and other community resources to offer energy efficiency upgrades for limited or low income members.
- Heat Pump, weatherization, and window loan programs ensure members are making smart installation choices by partnering with TVA to find qualified installers and reviewing the work completed.
- The New Homes Program offers a suite of new HVAC and water-heating equipment incentives for home builders. MTE has partnered with TVA to provide incentives for homes using all-electric or partially electric appliances.
Save money for high consumption businesses
Large load consumers, or key accounts (KA), are recognized at MTE as businesses using more than 300 kW or those with a transformer size of 500 KVA or greater. Through our Key Accounts program, we offer commercial and industrial large-load businesses a one-on-one relationship with a trained key account coordinator to better serve their specific needs.
The merger with MED increased our budget for the Comprehensive Services Program. We use this to help commercial and industrial members to save money on their bill with services like investigating power quality issues, conducting infrared scans in service panels, or inspecting compressed air loss. There are about a dozen services in this program, and our key account coordinators can help you find the right one for your commercial or industrial business.
To learn more about the programs we offer to help large consumption businesses save energy, contact your local key account coordinator.
More people to maintain and restore power
The merger increased our workforce by 20%, which allows us to serve our members more efficiently. Operation and engineering teams work together to create a more reliable system. A larger workforce allows us build upon our advanced infrastructure to improve the quality and resiliency of our electric system.
In the event that widespread outages occur, MTE has access to more local line crews as well as crews from neighboring counties to restore power as quickly and safely as possible.
Smarter technology to improve your life
Our Systems Control now monitors outages 24/7 using our advanced infrastructure or “Smart Grid.” By merging our outage management systems together, MTE can remotely find and sometimes even restore power to those affected. This means you experience shorter outage times while our line crews are dispatched to fix the initial cause.
Learn more about how MTE is using a Smart Grid to improve the quality of your life.
Helping our members AND their communities
MTE has built strong relationships with our community over the past 80+ years. We offer educational and safety programs to improve the lives of our members and their students. Here are some of the programs Murfreesboro residents are able to participate in:
The MTE SharingChange Foundation can now provide grants for non-profit organizations throughout the city. Our members round up their monthly bill to the nearest dollar, and our member-led board ensures 100% of the donations directly help members.
Gordon Bone Memorial SharingChange Scholarship funds ten $2,000 scholarships for students. To apply, you must be an MTE member or dependent of a member.
The Washington Youth Tour takes high school juniors to Washington D.C. to experience our nation’s capital and meet local government officials. Murfreesboro students can now participate in the writing contest to win a trip.
Powering Murfreesboro events
In addition to SharingChange grants, MTE is proud to sponsor local events that make life better for our members. Here are some events we’re preparing to sponsor:
- Rutherford Co. Christmas Tree Lighting
- MTSU Athletics and Campus Events
- Earth Day Celebration
- Center for the Arts
- BoroDash 5K benefiting Journey Home
Your ideas are making us better
At Middle Tennessee Electric, you are not a customer but a member and owner of your local not-for-profit electric co-op. This membership provides opportunities to offer feedback to board members, leadership, and employees. One important feedback tool is the Co-op Community Forum (CCF), which involves a weeklong online conversation once a quarter with members on a variety of topics. Their participation lets us ask specific questions and learn about how we can better serve you.
Member input through the CCF has been important in guiding MTE’s improvement efforts. From the board room to our charitable foundation, you can see positive results of initiatives that were originally suggested by members. The Electric Griddle, which provides food items at community events, and the Tennessee Magazine Online are two examples of ideas proposed by members through the CCF.
The CCF is part of our commitment to improving member satisfaction and engagement. The forum consists of 75 randomly selected members that include people of different geographic locations, ages, incomes, and length of cooperative membership. Each forum member participates for one year before a new random group is selected.
The CCF is proving to be an excellent example of community engagement, allowing us to gather member insights, attitudes, and opinions through organic conversations in a moderated setting. In effect, CCF gives members the opportunity to partner with MTE in efforts to improve co-op services, programs, products, and future initiatives by giving direct input into the development of these initiatives.
The CCF is not the only avenue open for communication between MTE and co-op members. Feel free to give our community relations coordinator a call or send an email. You can even visit one of our seven local office locations to talk with our member support team. For any idea, big or small, we are all ears.
Engage with your local cooperative like never before.
The Annual Meeting is a signature of the cooperative business model. Held by Middle Tennessee Electric since 1936, it is a meeting for the members. It has historically been a time of fellowship, fun and business.
Among the key events at Annual Meeting are voting by members to fill seats of the cooperative’s Board of Directors and a business session, where fiscal-year statistical and financial information is highlighted.
Due to COVID-19, this year’s meeting was held virtually, but it did offer a live question and answer session with the MTE leadership. During the virtual Annual Meeting held on August 29, MTE members voted to add two subdistricts to the cooperative’s Board of Directors, representing the City of Murfreesboro.
This is the first time legacy MED members have had a direct say in the governance of their utility and the ability to vote on the board members who represent them in a truly democratic manner.
On Sept. 1, MTE’s Nominating Committee appointed Ross Bradley and Dr. Shervondalonn R. Brown, who were recommended by the Murfreesboro City Council, to represent these two new subdistricts. Each will serve an initial one-year term when both seats will go into the normal election cycle at the 2021 Annual Meeting. The new subdistricts were created in recognition of MTE’s merger with the Murfreesboro Electric Department.
Stay up-to-date with MTE
Each month, members of MTE can find content specific to them. From Annual Meeting information to energy programs and everything in between, The Tennessee Magazine helps us distribute information to our members in a way that is timely, educational, and engaging. As our member communication preferences have evolved, so has the magazine’s method of distribution.
Frequently Visited Pages
Providing reliable electricity for you
While MTE's outage rate is well below the national average, power outages do happen. When they occur, members can be confident that MTE will restore power as quickly as possible. You count on us to provide you energy for light, comfort, and connection which is why our operation and engineering teams begin work immediately when an outage is detected. When you're out of power, our team is rolling out to restore it using the latest smart grid technology to reduce restoration times and improve service communication with you.
Helping you find solutions
We understand our members expect more than just affordable, reliable, and safe electricity. You also expect outstanding member service which includes helping you find answers and solutions to your concerns. MTE is here to address your issues as they arise.
From myMTEMC app issues to billing questions and everything in between, our member services team can provide you the support needed to take control of your account with us. We've put together some helpful information for you, but feel free to contact us directly to talk about any additional concerns you have.
Keeping trees, plants, and vegetation away from the electric system is critical in order to allow line workers safe access to equipment during an outage. If you have questions about tree pruning or tree replacement in zones close to electrical facilities or power lines, MTE has trained professionals to help you called Vegetation Management Specialists. They are certified arborists familiar with a wide variety of tree species and proper pruning practices and coordinate actual tree-pruning efforts performed by contractors hired throughout the MTE service area. Most importantly, they're here to serve members with information and explanations about our vegetation management program. To contact them, call (877) 414-7685, e-mail VegetationMgmt@mte.com, or using the form below.