My Account Q&A

You can access your HomeWorks account information through our eBill system. Below is a list of frequently asked questions about HomeWorks eBill.

What is eBill?

eBill is a free service that lets you view and/or pay your monthly HomeWorks Tri-County Electric Cooperative energy bill via the World Wide Web.
eBill allows you to:

• View a copy of your current bill
• Pay your current bill by credit card or electronic check via Internet access
• View prior bill and payment information

You can save time and money by using eBill, since you won't have to write a check, address an envelope, buy a stamp, rush to catch the mail - or pay a late fee if you forget to mail your bill on time.

NOTE: Some electronic payment options allow you to designate a savings account as your payment source. This is NOT recommended for paying by electronic check through eBill; using a non-checking account could result in payment delays and late-payment fees.

Where Can I Find eBill?

You can get to eBill here, by clicking on the "MY ACCOUNT" link at the top of any page at www.homeworks.org, or you can type https://ebill.homeworks.org into your browser's address box.

Here is what the opening screen of eBill looks like:

eBill login screen

How do I sign up to use eBill?

At the opening screen, there is an area for users who have already registered to log in. Below that, there are three choices listed. If you have not yet signed up for eBill, choose the second one: "Click here to sign-up for electronic billing." That will take you to a screen that looks like this:

Fill in all five boxes carefully, then click on the Continue button. This will complete your registration if your account number matches our records, and take you to a Main Menu screen that summarizes your account information and gives you several choices, as shown below:

If you select the first box, "View/Pay My Bill," your Account Summary Screen will open. Question #10 shows you more detail.

What do I do if I make a mistake typing my email address when I sign up?

This happens, and it's easy to correct by calling us. For example, if you type in johndoe@aol.cmo when you sign in, eBill registers that as your email address. Then, when you try to log in again, it won't recognize johndoe@aol.com when it compares your log-in to the email on file for you. If you remember exactly how you mistyped the address at sign-in, you can enter that again and go to the "Change my email address" screen (for more details, see #14).

If that doesn't work, call us during business hours at 1-800-562-8232, and we can correct the email address on file for you.

Will I still receive a paper bill each month by U.S. Mail?

Yes. This will help remind you to use eBill.

What kind of password do I have to use?

There are two restrictions: a range of 4 to 10 characters, and the system is case-sensitive. If you capitalize a letter when you set your password, you will need to capitalize it every time you enter it in the future. (Example: if we used HomeWorks as our password, using HOMEWORKS, Homeworks, and homeworks to log back in would all get error messages.)

To provide the best password security it is recommended that you use at least 8 characters and a combination of letters, numbers, and/or punctuation.

I get a "browser" or "Java" error message. Can't I bookmark eBill in my favorites list? What do I do?

To use eBill, you must have a computer or Web-enabled device with an Internet connection and a browser with capabilities to support 128-bit encryption. Most Internet browsers have this capability. If your current browser does not support 128-bit encryption, you will need to upgrade before using eBill. Also, "cookies" must be enabled in your browser.

If you get the "Java error" message, it's because some newer browsers don't include the version of Java used by eBill. You can download Java directly from its owner, Sun, at this link: http://java.sun.com/getjava/download.html.

Bookmarking your eBill site into your Favorites list won't work because of the security used to keep eBill and your account information safe. You can bookmark the log-in page, but you will need to log in for each eBill session.

Understanding cookies

Some Web sites store information in a small text file, called a "cookie," on your hard disk.

Cookies contain information about you and your preferences. For example, if you inquire about a flight schedule at an airline's Web site, the site might create a cookie that contains your itinerary. Or it might only contain a record of which pages within the site you visited, to help the site customize the view for you the next time you visit.

Only the information that you provide, or the choices you make while visiting a Web site, can be stored in a cookie. For example, the site cannot determine your e-mail name unless you choose to type it. Allowing a Web site to create a cookie does not give that or any other site access to the rest of your computer, and only the site that created the cookie can read it.

Internet Explorer is set up to allow the creation of cookies; however, you can specify that you be prompted before a site puts a cookie on your hard disk, so you can choose to allow or disallow the cookie; or you can prevent Internet Explorer from accepting any cookies.

You can specify different settings for different security zones. For example, you might want to allow Web sites to create cookies if they are in your Trusted sites or Local intranet zone, prompt you before creating cookies if they are in your Internet zone, and never allow cookies if they are in your Restricted sites zone.

What if I have more than one Tri-County Electric account?

eBill automatically searches our database for the account number you entered. Once the account is found, any other account that shares the same Capital Credit number and same main address will also be updated with this email address and password, giving you access through the account summary page. Your Capital Credit number is unique to your membership, and all your account numbers are tied to that Capital Credit number.

However, if your accounts have different, account-specific addresses, you will need to register each one separately.

What if I use other HomeWorks products and services; can I use eBill for Tri-County Propane, WildBlue Internet, DIRECTV, or Long Distance Telephone?

eBill now has full capabilities for Tri-County Electric, Tri-County Propane, and WildBlue satellite Internet service bills. We'll let you know if and when anything changes. Long Distance and DIRECTV are billed through different, proprietary software that is not compatible with eBill.

What does eBill look like?

Once you've registered the first time, you'll need your email address and your password to log into eBill. Once you log in, you'll be taken to the Main Menu Screen screen (for a screen capture, check Question #, where you can select View/Pay My Bill. That brings up your Account Summary Screen:

The first column, Account, displays all the accounts that are attached to this email address and password. In our example, one electric account, one propane account, and one WildBlue account were found.

The balances shown in the third column are the current accounts receivable balance on file. This is taken directly from our main database at the moment you request it, so it is up to date.

The fourth column is the Pay? box. A check mark appears in the box to indicate this total can be paid. If you have more than one account displayed, you can click in the box next to the account to remove the check mark and "not pay" that particular amount. Removing the check mark in a Pay? box will also reduce the amount in the Pay Amount box in the next column to the right.

Following the Pay Amount column, there will be information about any automatic payments you may have set up. Finally, the columns to the far right allow you to check the Bill Detail, Payment History, or Billing History for each of your accounts.

How do I view my current bill online?

From the Account Summary Screen, select Bill Detail. All information displayed for the bill is gathered at the time you request your eBill from our database, so it is current.

At top left is your account information, including name, address, and customer number (also referred to sometimes as your capital credit number), account number, etc.

At top right is the billing date, your account number, service address and description, and your billing cycle (see question #15 to see what dates your billing cycle uses.)

The center area of the screen includes the bill detail, including your account number, meter number, present and previous readings, your rate, and the kWh used during the month. Then the bill lists any balance forward, payments made, current charges (including the Available charge, Energy charge, and Michigan Sales Tax), Load Management credits, Operation Round Up amount, and total balance due.

Finally, at the bottom you'll find the dates of service, the due date, and the amount due (with penalty) if paid after the due date.

At the far left of the screen are some additional helpful menus. You can select Payments to view your Payment History, or Billings to view your Billing History.

You can also choose from among several charts that show your cost and energy usage trends.

How do I view past bills?

You can click on Billings in the left-hand menu to see a listing of past bills, by billing date, that are available to view.

You will be able to view up to the past 13 months of your account at any time.

What if I forget my password?

You can request a password reminder by going to the third bullet in the list below the Submit button, then clicking on "Click Here to retrieve it."

The following screen will display:

Enter your account number and email address (the email address form is also case-sensitive.) Click on "E-Mail My Password." Your password will be emailed back to you.

Please make sure that any spam-blocker you use will allow mail from "tricoenergy@homeworks.org" through to your Inbox, or your password request may be blocked from reaching you.

What if my email address changes?

You may change Internet service providers or just want to use a different email address. It's easy to change. First, log in using your current email address. At the left of the screen, under Main Menu, you'll see a link for "Change my email" and you'll be taken to this screen:

Fill in your current email address and enter your new email address in both "New E-mail" boxes, then click the Submit button.

You should see a screen that says "Email address change successful." Your password will remain the same. The next time you log into eBill, use your new email address.

When will next month's bill be posted for me to view?

General rule:

The schedule changes from month to month because of holidays, weekends, and other unusual circumstances.

How do I pay my bill with eBill?

To actually pay your bill, click on the "PAY" button and the following screen will display:

At this point, you choose how you will pay your bill. Your options are:

To pay by check:

Click on the "Pay $xxx.xx by check" button and the following screen will display:

Enter the following information:

NOTE: the sample check on this screen shows the location of this information on your check. 3. Once the information is complete, click on the SUBMIT button to complete your payment.

A verification of the amount you paid will be sent back to the screen.

To pay by credit or debit card:

1. Click on the "Pay $xxx.xx by credit/debit" button and the following screen will display:

Enter the following information:

Once the information is complete, click on the SUBMIT button to complete your payment.

A verification of the amount you paid will be appear on the screen.

When is the payment I make charged to my credit card or checking account?

It can take anywhere from a couple of hours to a business day or two for your payment to be debited against your account, depending on the credit card company or bank.

When will my payment be posted to my Tri-County account? When will I be able to see it on this website?

Your payment should be credited to your Tri-County account no later than the next business day (Monday through Friday), and your updated account should then appear on eBill.

What if I want to have my bill paid automatically each month?

Just call us at 1-800-562-8232 and we can set you up on either our electronic banking program, or on automatic monthly credit card payments.

If I'm already on an automatic payment plan, can I still use eBill? Can I use eBill even if I don't want to pay online?

Yes, you can always use eBill as a way to view your bills, check your payments, and view your energy use for the past year. You do not have to pay via eBill to use it.

What do I do if there's a problem?

Contact us at tricoenergy@homeworks.org. Describe the situation completely, and include your name, address, account number, and email address. We will make every effort to reply to emails within one business day (and usually much sooner.)

Or, call 1-800-562-8232 during business hours (Monday - Friday, 8 am - 6 pm, except holidays) for assistance.

How secure is my account information?

We have taken the following steps to ensure that your information is secure and your privacy is respected:

Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology
Using SSL guarantees that any transmissions of your information to or from our server will be encrypted. Any interception of your information on the Internet will be impossible for the intruder to read.

Hosting our site on secure servers
Our Internet-compliant web servers are configured with appropriate security so that intruders cannot see any activity done by you or our application.

Data on your account is secured in a system behind a firewall
Your actual billing account information is stored on auxiliary machines protected by a network firewall that will not allow any unauthorized access from the Internet to occur.

Protecting your account information through a secure log on process
The only way you are allowed to access your billing account information is by providing your E-mail address and a password that you have personally set up with our eBill site.

What is your privacy policy?

HomeWorks Tri-County Electric Cooperative will not share your account information with anyone not named on the account, except in very specific circumstances, in which case you would be given advance notice.

Will I receive email from HomeWorks if I sign up?

The only time you should receive email from us would be under one of these three conditions:

  1. a monthly notification from eBill that your current bill is ready for viewing

  2. a reply to any email you send us; or

  3. if at some future date we offer an email newsletter or notification service, and you request to be included on the mailing list.

Will you sell my email address to other businesses so that I get junk email?

No. Your account information has always been kept confidential under Tri-County Electric rules, unless we are subpoenaed for specific information through a court of law. Your email address will also be kept confidential.