Utility bills are due on the 10th of each month*. Late payments will include an 8% late fee. Your bill will have a reminder of the past due amount and a disconnect date on your next bill. You will receive two (2) reminders, (shut off Notice), prior to the disconnect date. If the bill is not paid by the disconnect date, you will be charged a $10.00 service fee and your service will be shut off. You must pay the amount due, the service fee and additional deposits prior to reconnection of the service.
*We ask that all customers be mindful that the payment needs to be received by the City of Dowagiac by the 10th of each month to avoid additional fees. This is especially important when using a third party bill payment service.
Help! I can't pay my bill.
If you are unable to pay your utility bill prior to the disconnection date, you may come to City Hall and sign a 10-day extension agreement. You are allotted 2 extensions per calendar year. Failure to pay the full amount due within the 10-day extension will result in disconnection.
Medical Emergency- You can postpone the the shut off of service if you inform the City and provide documentation of a medical emergency that exists at you residence.
Senior Citizen - if you are a senior citizen (65 years or older,) you are provided with shutoff protection in both the heating and cooling seasons. If you are 65 or older, please contact the City Utilities Department, so we can update your account.
Military Personnel - If you are in the military, you are provided with shut off protection pursuant to MCL 460.9c.
Payment Assistance -
You may be eligible for payment assistance through the Michigan Department of Health & Human Services (MDHHS). Contact them at (269) 445-0200 to obtain additional information.
Michigan 2-1-1 may be able to direct you to programs for financial assistance in Cass County. They can be reached by dialing 1-844-875-9211, texting your zip code to 898211, or visit them online at mi211.org.
I have no power.
Available to all customers desiring security light (yard light) service providing application is made and a Protective or Yard Light Agreement (PDF) is signed by the customer.
Monthly Rate: Effective on bills due on and after August 10, 2019
- 175 Mercury Vapor $14.92
- 250 Mercury Vapor $18.39
- 400 Mercury Vapor $27.78
- 1000 Mercury Vapor $57.23
- 150 High Pressure Sodium $14.92
- 400 High Pressure Sodium $42.42
City of Dowagiac
General Publication
Effective November 1, 2019, electric and/or water shut-off rules went into effect.
*If you or your spouse is in the military, you are provided certain shut-off protections pursuant to MCL 460-9C.
*During the heating season – November 1st through March 31st – residents may request 2 additional 10-day extension agreements.
*If you or a member of your household has a certified medical condition which requires electricity, shut-offs may be extended or postponed an additional 21 days.
*The rules provide that during the heating season when temperatures fall below 35 degrees – November 1st through March 31st – and the cooling season when temperatures exceed 94 degrees – citizens shall not have electrical services disconnected.
*Customers may be eligible for payment assistance of electrical or water/sewer services. Contact the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) at (269) 445-0200 to obtain additional information on State Emergency Relief (SER).
*Pursuant to section 21 of 1933 PA 94, MCL 141.121, the charges for electric, water, and/or sewer service are hereby made a lien on all premises served thereby. Whenever any such charges against such premises shall be delinquent for six months, the city manager shall report the delinquencies to the council twice per year. Thereupon the council shall order publication in a newspaper of general circulation in the city of notice that all unpaid such utility charges not paid will be spread on the city’s tax roll against the premises to which such utility services were supplied or furnished. If such utility charges are not paid, the city manager shall report to the tax assessing officer of the city, the fact of such delinquency, whereupon such charges shall be entered upon the next tax roll by the tax assessing officer as a charge against such premises to which such utility services were supplied or furnished, and the charges shall be collected and the lien enforced in the same manner as provided or the collection of taxes assessed upon the roll and the enforcement of the lien for the taxes.
