Paying Your Electricty Bill

I've spoken before about setting up an electricity account - now comes the time to start paying those bills!

If you live in a flat, your electricty meter will most likely be in a communal part of the building. FPL (Florida Power & Light) will come to read your meter automatically each month. You will also be billed each month. Remember that you will also have to pay a initial deposit when you open up your account.

If you don't have a US bank account - a topic I'll cover in another post - you'll find paying for electricity bills (and, indeed, other bills) slightly tricky. Most companies will want payment by US dollars cheque (check). Alternatively, it may be possible to pay online - but only by supplying your current (checking) account details, such as the acccount and routing numbers.

FPL, however, do also provide a third option. It is possible to pay your bill by debit or credit card through a service they offer with Western Union Speedpay. This does incur a processing fee, however of $3. The website will also say that you'll need to provide your billing address, which must be a U.S. one - but I've found that entering my UK address works fine and that payments definitely do get processed.