Safe & Adequate Wiring
Member homes, business establishments, and related facilities should have both safe and adequate wiring. The wiring must include a meter loop and a meter socket assembly including either a fuse-type or breaker-type main disconnect switch. The assembly may be installed on a service pole, or on a building.
Under the terms of the Electrical Safety Law, enacted by the 1965 Montana State Legislature, all new electric wiring installations must be inspected to insure that minimum safety standards, as prescribed by the National Electric Code, have been met. For detailed information about such inspections consult the electrical inspector in your area.
Easements
When and where applicable, each member, who is a landowner, is asked to sign a right-of-way easement, giving the cooperative the legal right to cross their property with the necessary facilities to provide service to them as well as to others. This is the only way that lines can be extended to the remote rural areas being served by the rural electric systems.
Payment of Accounts
Bills are processed within the first week of each month and due by the last day of the month. The day after the bill is due is the first day it is delinquent. The cooperative will assess a penalty charge (see charges below) on all consumer accounts that are delinquent.
Penalty Charges: The cooperative will charge a minimum penalty of $5 on past due balances
or interest as follows:
- Past due balances of $5 to $1,000 (1.5% interest)
- Past due balances of $1,001 to $5,000 (2% interest)
- Past due balances greater than $5,000 (2.5% interest)
Access
By becoming a member of Vigilante Electric, you are granting cooperative personnel access to all electrical facilities that are on your property. All locked gates must have a V.E.C. lock cut in.
Leaving Premises
If you are leaving your premises for good, or moving to another location, you should notify the cooperative office. Usage and payment of the account remains your responsibility until we are notified.
Cooperative Property
It shall be the responsibility of each member/consumer to take all reasonable and proper precautions to prevent damage to cooperative property on their premises. This shall include meters, instruments, transformers, line facilities, and any other equipment installed by and remaining the property of the cooperative. In the event such property is damaged or destroyed because of the member’s negligence, the cooperative may collect from the member the cost of repairs or replacement. Observed acts of destructive vandalism should be reported. Remember, that as a member, it is your property that is being destroyed.