Nations Power is providing pre-paid and real-time pricing for electricity to customers in Texas. The provider uses advanced smart metering technology and pre-paid billing software, which was designed specifically for use with smart meters. This allows it to deliver electricity to customers who are having problems paying for high up-front deposits or high pre-payments with other electric providers.

According to Nations Power, it is the first electric provider to implement pre-pay with real-time pricing anywhere in the United States. Its pre-paid and real-time pricing products can use the nearly 1 million advanced smart meters currently installed in Texas. The billing solution allows customers to pre-pay for power on a daily basis versus the traditional monthly post-paid or month-ahead estimated pre-paid methods. Plans are for nearly 6 million customers to have smart meters in Texas by 2013.

“We are the first provider to offer pre-paid billing with real-time pricing, anywhere,” said Fernando de Agüero, CEO of Nations Power. “Our one-of-a-kind, state-of-the-art software was developed exclusively for Nations Power, by SmartGridCIS, to provide pre-paid electricity to our customers. The software processes 15-minute usage data from any smart meter, which allows us to provide pre-paid electricity with real-time pricing.”

“We offer a pay-as-you-go solution to consumers who are having problems paying their monthly electric bills," said de Agüero. "Our system allows customers who are disconnected for nonpayment to reconnect within two hours of paying rather than days. Furthermore, for the first time, customers can pay ‘what they can, when they can’ – meaning they are now empowered to pay every few days or weekly to match their payroll cycles.”

Currently, the prices offered by Nations Power are approximately 30-40% lower than the estimated pre-paid companies. Furthermore, a customer can get started with Nations Power electric service with an initial $50 payment versus $100-300 with other pre-pay companies.  De Agüero stated, “We understand the essential need for electricity and the difficulty many Texans have with paying a large monthly bill. To alleviate this pressure, we created a system that provides lower pricing and the ability to pay in smaller amounts. We also integrated into the state assistance program (Lite-Up) to facilitate getting ~20% subsidized power during certain months of the year for the customers that need it the most.”

To pay for power, customers can access the Nations Power website and pay with a Mastercard or Visa debit card, or go to one of its 110,000 payment centers including Wal-Mart, CVS/pharmacy, and MoneyGram locations. Customers can also view their consumption, payment, and communications history at the same web portal. SmartGridCIS is the provider of the pre-paid and real-time billing software.