NOTICE TO OPALCO MEMBERS IN 98261 & 98279
Your zip code area is experiencing delivery delays for your OPALCO bill. First off, we are sorry for the inconvenience and any frustrations caused by this delay. OPALCO is diligently trying to solve the problem, tracking the delivery path to discover where your mail is getting hung up.
This issue is beyond OPALCO’s control and we are frustrated, too. Collaborating with our vendor we can see that the mail is tracking perfectly from our billing partner: checking in and out of their first postal stop on time and as planned. We have escalated this problem to the highest levels in the USPS chain of command to try and resolve the issue.
Some members have asked why we don’t mail the bills locally. The main reason is that the cost savings are significant with our cooperative billing partner. Another reason is that local mailing would not alleviate this issue of postal delays as all mail goes to the Seattle area for sorting before coming back to the islands for delivery. We believe the problem is isolated to the sorting facility in the Seattle area. Our local post offices are doing all they can to get the mail to you – it seems that this issue is beyond their control.
Please be patient with our staff as we work to correct this issue. We want you to have your bills on time and won’t stop pushing until we get past this glitch in the system.
We understand that some members prefer to get a paper bill and pay by check. However, there are ways to get your bill amount and details without waiting for the USPS to deliver your mail. Please review the following payment options to see if any other method will work for you:
1. AutoPay: sign up with a bank account or credit card.
2. SmartHub (online): it’s easy to see and pay your bill and review your energy usage online with SmartHub. You can choose to pay with bank account or credit card – or simply use SmartHub to view your bill and then pay using one of the options below.
3. In person: Lopez – pay at the Lopez Pharmacy; Eastsound and Friday Harbor – pay in person 8am – 4:30pm Monday – Friday.
4. SecurePay (phone): call 376-3500 and select option 2 to pay by phone with credit card.
5. Your Bank: find out your bill amount due (see above) and ask your bank initiate an electronic payment to OPALCO.
OPALCO bills monthly with the due date on the 5th of each following month. If you have questions, please contact us at 376-3500. We’re here to help. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.
–Your co-op team at OPALCO
