Some online payment services legally publish information about Prairie Land Electric and other utilities on their website. However, not all the information they publish is accurate. If you “Google” Prairie Land Electric to find our website, there are several third-party payment companies that will also come up in your search. The most prominent Google result is doxo.com. The payment page even displays the Prairie Land Electric logo and contact information to market its online bill payment service to potential customers, so it can be a source of confusion for someone paying online for the first time.
DOXO, and other third-party payment services are legitimate payment processors that allow you to pay multiple bills on the same website. While the service they provide often works just fine, many people have experienced situations where payments have been sent to the wrong utility and/or arrived after the due date of their bill. Because the cooperative is not affiliated with DOXO and has not authorized them to use our logo and materials, this can lead to mistakes and interruptions in electric service. Prairie Land Electric cannot control when we will receive the member’s payment from DOXO, which may result in a late payment from the member or even disconnection due to nonpayment. Not only that, but DOXO makes their money by charging members extra fees for the “convenience” of processing their transactions.
Bottom line: The most affordable (TRULY FREE), safe and secure form of payment is SmartHub, Prairie Land Electric’s online bill payment site. SmartHub is a website and mobile device app that makes it easy to view and pay your electric bill with your computer, smart phone or tablet. Prairie Land Electric offers this secure online bill pay option as well as several other secure payment choices.
If you deliberately choose to utilize a third party payment processor, remember, they will likely charge you an additional fee and you will have little control over when the payment is delivered to us.
To avoid using third party payment processors by mistake, keep the following in mind when paying your bill online:
- Type prairielandelectric.com directly into your browser window rather than using Google to find the website. (if you do use Google, be sure to click on the result that has a website address of prairielandelectric.com)
- Visit prairielandelectric.com prior to paying your bill to familiarize yourself with the look and feel of the website. This will make it easier for you to recognize when you are on our site vs. a lookalike.
- Remember, if you are being charged a service charge, you ARE on a third-party site. Prairie Land Electric will not charge you an additional fee to pay your bill online through our SmartHub online bill payment site.
If you have questions about paying your bill online, please do not hesitate to call one of our customer services representatives. We would be glad to help walk you through the process.