As the holiday season approaches, household costs tend to increase as the year wraps. Before diving too much into some of the technological offerings from SCE, check out some tips below that help customers understand their bill and their usage.

1. Understand your Time-of-Use Bill: TOU rates vary based on the time of day and season, get to know your recent activity, current amount due, and due dates visit sce.com/mybill

2. Customer Billing: SCE includes a Bill Message, a very short blurb or message added to the "Things you should know’’ section of customer bills. This bill message will be intended to communicate recurring regulatory information and other mandated advisories that must go to every SCE customer. For more information see your next SCE bill or visit sce.com

3. Customer Assistance: SCE understands that rate increases are challenging for many of its customers. The company offers money-saving tools and programs available at SCE.com/billhelp.

4. Budget Billing Plan: Offers eligible customers the opportunity to pay for their annual electricity service across 11 equal monthly payments. You can enroll by calling 1-800-434-2365.

5. Budget Assistant: Budget Assistant tracks your daily energy usage, compares it to your selected spending goal and sends you an alert based on your settings. For more information, visit sce.com/budgetassistant.

SCE is here to share with its customers some ways to lower your monthly bills by “tapping into tech.” Check them out!

1. Get to Know Your Home: Our 5-minute Energy Advisor Survey gives you personalized savings advice based on your home appliances. Get started at sce.com/energysurvey.

2. Switch to Smart Tech: Take advantage of rebates on energy-efficient tech, like smart thermostats, to keep heating and cooling costs down. Find out how you can save at sce.com/SEP.

3. Get Reminders About Peak Hours: Sign up for text alerts when weekday on-peak hours are about to start so you can plan when to run that load of laundry. Set up your notifications at scetextalert.com.