Welcome to South River Electric Membership Corporation! Let us share our new member information with you.

Establishing Electric Service

New Service

To establish new electric service with South River EMC, an individual may simply call the South River EMC Customer Service Department at 1-800-338-5530 and provide basic information ( i.e. purchase or rental contract, SSN, picture ID) or come into either of our two offices.

Service Information

All required county inspections must be completed prior to connecting your permanent electric service. An electrical inspection is required for newly constructed homes or manufactured homes.

Since electricity is billed after it is used, we may require a security deposit before connecting your service. The security deposit amount will be based on type of service, history of the service location or available information.

A credit check will be performed to determine deposit requirements for new South River EMC members. You have the option of declining the credit check, thus paying the deposit or securing the account by obtaining a cosigner/guarantor. Also as an alternative to a deposit, a new member may also provide SREMC with a credit letter from another utility where they have established recent good credit.

Deposit requirements for current or previous South River EMC members are determined by reviewing prior or active South River EMC account information.

A $25 Administrative Service Charge will be charged to your first bill.

After hours and weekend connects are available, however, fees will apply. 24 hour customer service is just a phone call away at 1-800-338-5530.

Public Safety Policy

I. Objective:
To establish procedures and conditions that safeguard the Cooperative's members and the general public from potentially dangerous electrical conditions.

II. Policy Content:
Cooperative members and the general public should never come into contact with electrical power lines. When potentially hazardous conditions are observed, members and the general public should alert the Cooperative to the condition.

III. Provisions:
A. The Cooperative, in the construction, operation and maintenance of its electrical system, will adhere to the provisions outlined in the most current edition of the National Electrical Safety Code (NSEC), unless specifically required by other authorities to do otherwise.

B. It is the responsibility of each employee, contractor, Cooperative member and general public member to report to the Cooperative all unsafe conditions that any such person observes in the Cooperative's electrical system. Any employee, contractor, Cooperative member, or member of the general public, upon finding a power line in an unsafe condition or a condition not in compliance with the NESC clearances should immediately notify the Cooperatives dispatcher concerning the unsafe condition. Cooperative employees and contractors should stand by to guard against hazardous conditions until they are relieved or until the defect is corrected. Cooperative members and members of the general public are not expected to stand by to guard against hazardous conditions but should notify, in addition to Cooperative personnel, law enforcement and emergency personnel respecting the unsafe condition.

C. Members of the Cooperative and the general public should always assume that a downed power line or a sagging power line, is unsafe. The Cooperative and law enforcement authorities should be notified when such a condition is observed. Contact with power lines, whether downed or not, can result in injury or death and must be avoided.

D. If and Cooperative member or member of the general public inadvertently comes into contact with a power line, the incident should be reported immediately to the Cooperative. If there are injuries, emergency medical personnel should be contacted immediately. FURTHER CONTACT WITH THE POWER LINE SHOULD BE STRICTLY AVOIDED, AND THE INCEDENT SHOULD BE REPORTED IMMEDIATELY TO THE COOPERATIVE. IF THE INCIDENT OCCURED ON A PUBLIC RIGHT-OF-WAY, LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS SHOULD ALSO BE NOTIFIED.

E. All accidental contacts involving the Cooperative's electric lines, vehicles or property shall be properly and promptly investigated, with complete accident reports prepared, including photographs and sketches to substantiate written reports.

IV. Responsibility:
A. The Executive Vice President & CEO is responsible for the administration of this policy.

B. Copies of this policy are posted in the Cooperative's reception area. Copies of this policy have been forwarded to various public agencies within the Cooperative's service area. Copies of this policy are given to each new member upon application for service.

Service Rules and Regulations

#401- Reasons for Disconnection

• Discovery of meter or load management tampering or diversion of current.
• Use of power for unlawful, unauthorized reasons.
• By order of public authority.
• Discovery of an electrical condition determined by the the cooperative to be potentially dangerous or hazardous to life or property.
• For repairs, emergency operations, unavoidable shortages or interruptions in the cooperative's supply source.
• Introduction of foreign electricity on the premises without prior written consent.

#403- Re-connection of Service by the Cooperative

• The conditions causing the disconnection are corrected.
• Payment has been made for the cost of repair or replacement of the cooperative's meter or any other properties, if tampered with or otherwise damaged or destroyed.
• Where service has been disconnected for non-payment of a bill, meter tampering, unauthorized or illegal use of power, the cooperative will have the right to refuse service to the same member or to any other applicant who is a member of the member's household until the infraction is corrected, credit is reestablished by the member and all charges have been paid.
• The member has agreed to comply with reasonable requirements to protect the cooperative against further infractions.
• A re-connection fee and/or any other service charges or deposits, as specified in the Schedule of Charges, have been paid.

#404- Termination of Service by Member
For termination of service, the member should give a minimum of one working day's notice prior to requested disconnection unless a written contract specifies otherwise.

Collection Policies
Electric bills are due upon receipt. In the event payment has not been received at the office within 15 days from the date of the bill, he account is considered delinquent.

Notice Is Hereby Given That:

• The original bill mailed is the first notice of charges due.
• If the full amount is not paid within 15 days from the date of the bill, a final notice is rendered seven days past the due date and a $5 Late Charge will be added to the bill.
  
• If at the end of the additional seven days allowed on the final notice, payment has not been received, or an approved signed extension agreement made, service will
• be terminated without further contact. Service can re-connected after the bill and all other charges have been paid.

(For consumer convenience, a night deposit is located near the front door of each office.)

Service Fees

Our current service fees can be found here along with the current deposit policy.

Statement of Non-discrimination

South River Electric Membership Corporation is the recipient of federal financial assistance from the Rural Utilities Service (RUS), an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and is subject to the provisions of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended; Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended; the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, as amended; and the rules of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which provides that no person in the United States on the basis of race, color, national origin, age or handicap shall be excluded from participation in, admission or access to, denied the benefits of, or otherwise be subjected to discrimination under any of this organization's programs or activities. The person responsible for coordinating this organization's non-discrimination compliance efforts is CEO & Executive Vice President Buddy G. Creed. Any individual, or specific class of individuals, who feels that this organization has subjected them to discrimination may file a written complaint with this organization; or the Secretary, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C. 20250; or the Administrator, Rural Utilities Service, Washington, D.C. 20250. Complaints must be filed within 180 days after the alleged discriminatory action, or by such later date to which the Secretary of Agriculture or the Administrator of RUS extends the time for filing. Identity of complainants will be kept confidential except to the extent necessary to carry out the purposes of the rules and regulations of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

General Member Information

Annual Meeting
Carolina Country Magazine
Pay Stations

Rates and Capital Credit Refunds
Rates are set as near operating expenses as possible. Because South River Electric Membership Corporation. is a non-profit utility, all profits are allocated back to its member-owners annually in the form of capital credits. As a cooperative, South River EMC allocates year-end margins to members based upon their individual kilowatt-hour purchases for the year. These funds are then used by the cooperative for operating capital for 19 years before being returned to the member.

Special Needs
Please notify the cooperative in writing if there is someone on your household who is chronically ill or on an electrically operated Life Support System. In that case, you have the right to special handling on your account and are placed on a Priority Listing for restoration service during an outage.

Meter Reading and Cycle Billing
Cooperative personnel read all meters and must have access to all cooperative- owned meters as stated in the Bylaws of South River EMC Article 1, Section 1.08. However South River is in the process of changing over to automatic meter reading. Read more about it under the Automated Meter Reading section.

Safety Tips

Check out the indoor and outdoor safety tips located on our Web site.

General Service Rate

View South River EMC's general service rate.

Using Your Energy Wisely

Visit our energy efficiency tip section to find out how to use your energy wisely.

Touchstone Energy

Curious about Touchstone Energy? Learn more about it here.