Fees & Deposits

Below is a list of fees charged by LUS on residential customer bills, when applicable:

For business customer fees & deposits, please contact customer service at (337) 291-8280.

Security Deposit

LUS security deposits are based on the level of service required. Service deposits may be waived if you can provide LUS with a letter of credit from your previous utility company stating that your account was kept current (that is, no late payments for at least 12 consecutive months). Deposit refunds are applied as a credit to your account once you have kept your account current (payment by due date for 12 consecutive months) or if you are disconnecting your service. The current LUS residential deposits are as follows:

Service Type Deposit

Full Service (electric, water, and wastewater service) –  $170
Electric Service Only –  $140
Water and Wastewater Service (combined) –  $30
Water Service Only – $30
Wastewater Service Only –  $30

PLEASE NOTE: Customers who have had previous accounts with LUS that still contain an outstanding balance (unpaid to LUS) at the time they wish to connect new service will be expected to pay out that outstanding balance, along with a standard deposit, in order to have services connected.

Connection Fee

Residential customers requesting new service of electric, water and/or wastewater service will be charged a connection fee of $7.50, if those services are connected during normal business hours (8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding holidays). In the event that service(s) must be connected outside of normal business hours, the customer will be charged a $15.00 connection fee. Connection fees are added to the customer’s first bill.

Late Charge

If a customer fails to pay billed charges for electric, water, wastewater and/or garbage services by the fifth day following the indicated due date on the bill, a late charge of 5% of their total bill will be added to the amount due. If past due charges (including billed late charges) are not paid within 20 days of the due date, the account will be considered delinquent and a delinquent penalty of $8.00 will be applied to the account. If all unpaid charges are not paid by 7 p.m. the next business day, the affected utility services will be shut off and the customer will be charged an additional penalty of $8.00 for disconnection of services. Once the past-due charges are collected, a reconnection service charge of $8.00 will be added to the customer’s next bill, provided services are reconnected during normal business hours (8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding holidays). If services are reconnected outside of normal business hours, a reconnection service charge of $16.00 will be added to the customer’s next bill.

NSF and Other Check Charges

LUS will assess a charge of $20.00 for each payment returned by the customer’s bank due to insufficient funds, a closed account, or similar reasons. Likewise, any payment made by e-check that is returned by the customer’s bank for any of the reasons previously stated will incur a charge of $50.00 per returned payment.

After two returned payments the customer’s utility account will be placed into a cash-only status at which point the only payments allowed to be accepted towards the balance must be paid by cash, money order, certified funds, or approved credit/debit card transaction. LUS will not accept checks or e-checks as payment from any customer while in cash-only status. The account will remain in cash-only status until either the customer can provide a statement from his or her bank confirming that no returned payments have been charged against the customer’s bank account for the twelve consecutive months following the last returned payment issued to LUS or until the account is automatically removed from cash-only status 3 years after the last returned payment.

If the customer fails to pay the amount of the returned payment by approved payment method the customer’s utility service(s) will be disconnected and the customer will be charged the appropriate penalty, disconnection, and reconnection fees as stated above.

Customers receiving payment assistance from local non-profit agencies will not be able to use such assistance to pay the NSF charge.

Business Customers

For business customer fees & deposits, please contact customer service at (337) 291-8280.

Disclaimer

The fee information displayed on this website is provided to LUS customers for informational purposes only. If there are any discrepancies between the fee information displayed electronically and the official document on file, the official document will prevail. Please call the LUS Customer Service Center at (337) 291-8280 (or toll-free at 1-800-935-2LUS from outside Lafayette) if you have any questions.