Account & Rates
Take control of your account with convenient online and mobile tools. Explore easy-to-follow info on your bill and payments — and remember, we’re always here to help!
Online: Login to your online account by clicking “My Account” to manage your account from anywhere. Click to view instructions for creating your online account.
Mobile device: Want to make a payment from your mobile device? Download the GLE app on your iOS or Android device today.
By phone: Call us at 888-485-2537 and follow the appropriate prompts. To pay by credit card, checking, or savings account, you can use the automated phone system. If paying with a checking or savings account and would like help, speak to a member services representative (Monday–Friday, 7:00 a.m.–5:30 p.m.).
All credit card payments MUST be made through the automated phone system or online.
In person: Visit any of our eight office locations across western Michigan, Monday-Friday 8am-4:00pm to make a payment.
Auto Pay: Have one less thing to remember when you set your account up for Auto Pay. Enroll today in your online account.
FlexPay: Pay for your electricity in advance and manage your electricity use on a daily basis. No late fees, no reconnect fees and no deposits involved with this plan. Call us to enroll.
Budget Billing
Take control of fluctuating bills by enrolling in Budget Billing*. Your monthly payment will stay roughly the same each month, based on the previous year’s energy use. Every August, we’ll balance your account. Sign up today. Call us at 888-485-2537, 7:00am-5:30pm, Monday thru Friday.
*To be eligible for the Budget Billing Program, we must have 12 months of billing history and bills must have a zero-account balance at time of enrollment.
Payment Assistance
Having trouble paying your bill? We understand times get tough and there are options out there for when that happens. When that does, please contact us immediately to arrange payment options so your service will not be shut off. You can also find out what programs are available to you. Dial 2-1-1 to find out about programs in your area that can offer help. Or check out our payment assistance guide.
If you’re struggling to keep up with your electric bills our Pathways Program, a partnership between Great Lakes Energy and TrueNorth Community Services, can help you bridge the financial gap and move toward your ultimate goal of self-sufficiency.
Besides the bill payment help you’ll receive, you’ll learn energy management practices to lower your bills with the full support of an assigned TrueNorth Self-Sufficiency Coach. The more you succeed with Pathways, the more help you’ll receive toward becoming energy efficient and confident in managing your future energy use and billings.
Our Pathways communications team is available 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Mon. – Fri. To speak to a Pathways representative, please call 231-355-5880.
What's the Monthly Charge?
While the monthly charge on your bill may seem confusing, it is there to save you money and to provide you with reliable service. Simply put, your bill is split into two parts: fixed cost and variable cost.
The electricity you use is a variable cost since how much you use from month-to-month fluctuates. You will see this cost as energy and PSCR charges on your bill.
The fixed costs (this is where that monthly charge comes in) go to the services you don’t always see upfront but would notice immediately if they went away. These would be things like maintaining your powerlines, equipment used to restore your power, improving the distribution system for reliable service, and having staff available 24-7 to get your power back on during outages.
Since all members benefit from using our fixed cost services, we divide the charge evenly among rate classifications. This allows us to keep your kilowatt hour charge (how much you pay for energy used) down and still provide you with reliable service.
Business Accounts
Great Lakes Energy is committed to providing the level of service and value that our commercial and industrial members deserve. Commercial and industrial (C & I) members have very unique needs, and we work hard to meet those needs.
If you are an existing Great Lakes Energy C & I member or if you are not currently our member, but are interested in our electric service, email us at [email protected] or call 888-485-2537, ext. 1358.
C&I members can learn more about demand and GLE’s demand charges in this PDF.
Capital Credits
When you moved into Great Lakes Energy’s service territory and began purchasing electricity from us, you became a member of the Cooperative. Because electricity is delivered to your home by Great Lakes Energy, you are a member and an owner. This means that all Great Lakes Energy assets – even the poles and wires – are owned by our members.
As a member-owned Cooperative, Great Lakes Energy allocates and eventually returns its annual margins (i.e., profits) to its member-owners in the form of capital credit refunds. It’s part of the value you receive for sharing in the ownership of a cooperative.
Allocations appear on June bills and reflect your share of any profit from the previous year based on the amount of electricity you purchased. Capital credit refunds of $25 or more are issued as a check, and refunds less than $25 will show as a credit on your December bill, as financial conditions allow. Please keep your mailing address updated so you will receive future capital credit refunds, even when you are no longer receiving electricity from GLE.
We plan to continue to refund capital credits each year provided financial conditions allow us to do so.
What are capital credits?
Capital credits are a key reason why you’re more than just a customer. You’re a member of Great Lakes Energy! They represent your share of profits, called margins in the cooperative world, that are generated when revenues received from our members exceed our operating costs. Since we are a cooperative, we do not keep these margins, but rather allocate them back to the members who provide the revenue through the electric rates they paid during the year. Unlike investor-owned utilities, cooperatives do not have shareholder investors/owners. Our members are our investor/owners. Every time you pay your bill, you’re making an investment in a business you co-own.
What is a capital credit allocation?
A capital credit allocation is different from a capital credit refund. Allocations appear on June bills and reflect your share of any profit from the previous year based on the amount of electricity you purchased. We keep track of your allocations and refund these to you over time as financial conditions allow. These refunds are called capital credit refunds.
Why is the capital credit refund on my bill smaller than my neighbor’s?
Your share of the profits is based on the amount of electricity that you purchased from GLE during certain years. If your neighbors purchased more electricity in these years than you did, they will receive a larger refund.
Why are the refunds based on the different years?
We want to make sure that both newer and long-term members benefit from this program and receive their entitled amounts. You can help us, too. If you took over the electric account from a relative who is now deceased, we will provide you with instructions on how to claim any future capital credit refunds that may be issued in the deceased’s name. Anyone who plans to move off our lines should provide us with their new address for our records. Your assistance will help limit the amount of unclaimed capital credit refunds.
What about profits earned in other years? Will they be returned, too?
Yes, we plan to continue to retire capital credits annually, provided financial conditions allow us to do so.
What do you do with the capital credits that you haven’t returned yet?
They remain part of the capital invested in the cooperative so we can continue to build and improve our power line distribution system and provide the other services that you expect from your electric cooperative.
The check I received is written out to someone who is deceased. How do I claim the refund?
The person or group who can legally claim the refund must return the original check and a completed inducement form. We will then reissue the check and also send future checks to you.