| Paying and Payment Options > Budget Billing |
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For our budget-minded customers, we offer a convenient way to pay your natural gas bills that means no more unexpected high bills.
Our Budget Billing program makes managing your budget easy. With Budget Billing, we estimate your actual natural gas charges for the year so you pay an average that is the same amount each month.
Natural gas bills fluctuate with the seasons — high in the winter and low in the summer. Natural gas bills in cold weather can average about six times higher than bills during the summer. Furnaces that keep us warm are the biggest users of natural gas in most homes and businesses. The cost of gas we buy and pass on to you is also usually higher in the winter when demand for natural gas increases.
Budget Billing considers all of these factors — your typical usage, the anticipated seasonal temperatures and the cost of natural gas for the coming year, including fees and taxes — to determine your monthly Budget Bill amount.
Important Information
For our current Budget Billing customers:
Your new Budget Billing payment amount for the next 12 months begins on your September bill.
As you know, this past year has been unusual. With an historic 5-year low in the price of natural gas combined with a very mild winter, actual natural gas bills were lower than expected. So, this past February, most of our customers saw their Budget Bill payment amounts lowered to avoid large credit balances at the end of the budget plan year in August.
The anticipated cost of natural gas is beginning to return to past levels. With this annual Budget Bill review, most of our customers are seeing their Budget Bills return to more typical amounts.
Budget Billing continues to provide you excellent protection from seasonal highs and lows on your bills. If you have any questions about your bill or would like us to review your plan amount with you, please feel free to contact Gas Company Customer Service at 888-NM-GAS-CO (888-664-2726). When you sign up for Budget Billing, and at the beginning of each Budget Billing year in September, we look at the amount of natural gas you usually use, the expected seasonal temperatures and the anticipated cost of natural gas for the coming year, including fees and taxes, to determine your monthly Budget Bill payment amount for the Budget Billing year. Each month, you only pay that same amount.
We still read your meter and record the actual natural gas you use. To help make sure you aren’t overpaying or underpaying compared to your bills, each February, we review your account. We compare how much gas you used with how much you’ve paid for through Budget Billing and make an adjustment of your amount, if necessary. Over time, you do not pay any more or less with Budget Billing.
 On your monthly bill, you can see the balance of how much actual gas usage you’ve paid for and how much you’ve been billed. This running balance for your Budget Billing account is found in a gray box at the bottom of your monthly bill. When your “Gas Budget Bill Balance" has a minus sign, your Budget Bill payments have been more than actual usage amounts. When there is no sign, then your payments have been less than actual usage amounts.
If you have a concern that you could get a large bill at the end of the year, don’t worry — any balance is simply rolled over into the next year and your monthly bills are adjusted. There are no ballooon payments unless you choose to stop the plan and have a debit.
If, for whatever reasons, you are concerned that your monthly Budget Billing amounts are too high or too low, please feel free to contact us. Or, if your individual situation changes and you know you will have unusually higher or lower natural gas bills this winter, please feel free to contact Customer Service at 888-NM-GAS-CO (888-664-2726) and we will be happy to review your Budget Billing plan with you.
Eligibility and Enrollment
To be eligible for Budget Billing, you must be current in your bills and continue to pay them on time. Eligible customers may enroll or unenroll at any time. When you leave the program, any overpayment (credit) or underpayment (debit) will be reflected on your next bill statement.
The best time to sign up for Budget Billing to get the lowest Budget Billing payment amount is in the summer or fall.
To enroll, please call New Mexico Gas Company Customer Service at 888-NM-GAS-CO (888-664-2726) or visit any New Mexico Gas Company Business Office. A list of our Business Office locations across the state may be found here.
How to pay your Budget Bill automatically
Many of our Budget Billing customers find our Automatic Bank Draft program the most
convenient way to pay their bills without having to write a check each month. This program allows you to pay automatically by having the money withdrawn from your checking or savings accounts. You still receive a paper copy of your bill for your records, about ten days before your Budget Billing amount is deducted from your account. For more information on our Automatic Bank Draft program, please see the link on the left.
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