Utility Deposit Bond - Navopache Electric Cooperative in Arizona

Brief Summary

Navopache can ask for a security deposit of up to two times your estimated average monthly bill for a home, or two and one half times the estimated monthly bill for a business, before it turns the power on. Its own policy manual also lets a new member establish credit with a guarantee or surety arrangement the cooperative accepts. A surety bond keeps that cash in your account instead of sitting with the utility.

Navopache Electric Cooperative (NEC) serves members in eastern Arizona and western New Mexico under an Electric Service Policies and Standards Manual approved by the Arizona Corporation Commission in Decision No. 78428. Under section 2.31, a residential applicant can establish credit through prior good history with NEC, a clean letter from another electric utility, a soft credit check, a security deposit, or a guarantee or surety arrangement satisfactory to NEC. The deposit cap is two times the estimated average monthly bill for residential service and two and one half times the estimated monthly bill for non residential service.

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How to Apply for a Utility Deposit Bond:

• Ask NEC whether your account needs security and what amount it has set.
• Confirm NEC will accept a surety bond for your account and whether it uses its own bond form.
• Have the account holder's legal name and the service address exactly as they appear on the NEC application.
• Complete the bond application and review the quoted premium.
• Pay the premium and receive the signed bond naming Navopache Electric Cooperative as obligee.
• Deliver the bond to NEC before service activation.

Detailed Information About the Arizona Utility Deposit Bond:

How big the deposit can be

The amount is not a fixed figure. It follows your expected usage. Under section 2.32 of the NEC policy manual, a residential deposit can be up to two times the estimated average monthly bill. Under section 2.34, a non residential deposit can be up to two and one half times the estimated monthly bill. The bond amount you need is whatever NEC sets for your account, so get that number from the cooperative before ordering the bond.

When NEC asks for security

A residential applicant only needs to meet one credit option in section 2.31. Many people never post anything because they already had good service with NEC, bring a letter from another electric utility showing no delinquency in the prior 12 months, or pass NEC's soft credit inquiry. Those who do not can pay a deposit before activation or provide a guarantee or surety arrangement satisfactory to NEC.

Existing accounts can be asked for the maximum deposit after a high risk event under section 2.33. That means three or more delinquencies in 12 months, a disconnection for nonpayment, two or more returned payments, or any meter tampering or energy theft. Members on NEC's Prepaid Service are not subject to the credit and deposit criteria at all.

What the bond covers

A utility deposit bond names Navopache Electric Cooperative as obligee and guarantees payment of your electric bills. If the account goes unpaid, NEC can claim against the bond, and you repay the surety. Cash deposits earn simple interest under NEC's tariffs, and a residential cash deposit may be refunded after 12 months of satisfactory payment history. NEC decides whether a surety arrangement is satisfactory, so confirm the bond form, amount and filing steps with NEC member services before the bond is issued.

Eligibility and Requirements for a Arizona Utility Deposit Bond:

• Navopache Electric Cooperative named as obligee.
• Residential amount up to two times the estimated average monthly bill.
• Non residential amount up to two and one half times the estimated monthly bill.
• Bond in place before service is activated.
• Surety arrangement acceptable to NEC under section 2.31 of its policy manual.

Arizona Utility Deposit Bond FAQs:

Official and Additional Resources for the Arizona Utility Deposit Bond: