Privacy Policy

You have subscribed and expressly consented to receive SMS alerts and notifications on your mobile telecommunications device from Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative (SMECO) for purposes of providing you notices and alerts regarding your account. You acknowledge, understand, and agree to the following.

As a registered participant in SMECO’s Text Messaging Service (Text Service), you will have the ability to send certain messages to SMECO about your electric service and to receive updates about and communications regarding power outages, electric service, and account information.

By sending a text message for participation in SMECO’s Text Service or by using our Text Service at any time, you are agreeing to the SMECO Text Service terms and conditions set forth below (Terms and Conditions). These Terms and Conditions may change from time to time, and we will post updates here. To participate, your phone must be enabled for text messaging. Certain features may require equipment upgrade for viewing. Carriers are not liable for delayed or undelivered messages.

You have the ability to permanently discontinue your participation in SMECO’s Text Service at any time by texting STOP to 76326 (SMECO). You also have the ability to temporarily discontinue your participation in the Text Service by texting PAUSE to 76326 (SMECO). You man also manage your electronic messages in the Notification Preferences section of Account Manager.

Please carefully review the following Text Service Terms and Conditions. For additional information about SMECO’s Text Service, please see SMECO’s Text Messaging Frequently Asked Questions.

  1. Cost of Participation
    SMECO does not charge for SMS text messages; however, your mobile service provider may charge for messages and data. The message and data rates which may apply would be charged by, and be payable by you to, your mobile service provider. Check with your carrier for details. Message frequency varies.
  2. User Conduct
    You agree not to send or otherwise make available content that is unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, tortious, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, libelous, invasive of another’s privacy, or contains hate speech.You acknowledge that SMECO may or may not pre-screen text message content you provide, but shall have the right, without obligation and at its sole discretion, to pre-screen, refuse, or remove any content you make available, including content that violates this section.You agree to provide true, accurate and complete information about yourself during the Text Service registration process and to update this information promptly when it changes. If you provide any information that is untrue or inaccurate, not current, or incomplete, or if we suspect that your information is untrue or inaccurate, not current, or incomplete, we may, at our sole discretion, suspend or terminate Text Service registration or access, or refuse current or future access.
  3. Rights
    By sending text messages, you grant SMECO the perpetual, irrevocable, and fully sub-licensable license to use, distribute, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, publicly perform, and publicly display any and all text message content provided by you to SMECO (in whole or in part) and to incorporate such content into other works in any format now known or later developed.
  4. Confirmation, Opting Out, or Asking Questions.
    You understand and agree that you may receive a confirmation text message for each text message you send to SMECO. You may temporarily discontinue your participation in the Text Service by texting PAUSE to 76326 (SMECO). To opt-out of or cancel the Text Service, please text STOP to 76326 (SMECO). If you experience any problems with opting out of the Text Service, or if you need help or additional information related to the Text Service, please text HELP to 76326 (SMECO). You may also send an email (including your mobile phone number) to our Contact Center or call SMECO at 1-888-440-3311.
  5. Privacy Policy
    Data obtained by SMECO from you in connection with SMECO’s text messaging service may include your cellular number, the name of your mobile service provider, the date, time and content of the text messages you send to us, and other information provided in the text messages you send to us. We may use this information to contact you, update your account, and to provide the text messages you have requested. For additional information regarding our use of information collected through the Text Service, please refer to our Privacy Policy.
  6. No Guarantee
    SMECO’s Text Service relies on communications networks beyond the Co-op’s control. During major events, such as hurricanes or blizzards, text messages may not be available for affected areas. You acknowledge, understand, and agree that SMECO shall not be held liable for any delays in the receipt of our text message to you, incomplete, lost, late, or misdirected messages, including (but not limited to) undelivered messages resulting from any form of filtering by your mobile carrier or service provider. T-Mobile® is not liable for delayed or undelivered messages.
  7. Disclaimer of Warranties
    You expressly understand and agree that your participation in SMECO’s Text Service is at your sole risk. The Text Service is provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis. SMECO and its subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, agents, employees, partners, contractors, consultants, licensors, and suppliers expressly disclaim all warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, including, but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement.SMECO and its subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, agents, employees, partners, contractors, consultants, licensors, and suppliers make no warranty that (a) the Text Service will meet your requirements; (b) the Text Service will be uninterrupted, timely, secure, or error-free; or (c) the results that may be obtained from the use of the Text Service will be accurate or reliable.
  8. Limitation on Liability
    You expressly understand and agree that SMECO and its subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, agents, employees, partners, contractors, consultants, licensors, and suppliers shall not be liable to you for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential or exemplary damages, including, but not limited to, damages for loss of profits, goodwill, use, data or other intangible losses, even if SMECO has been advised of the possibility of such damages, resulting from the use or the inability to use the Text Service, unauthorized access to or alteration of your transmissions or data, statements or conduct of any third party regarding the Text Service, or any other matter relating to the Text Service.
  9. Termination
    SMECO reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to cancel or suspend any or all of its Text Service, in whole or in part, for any reason, with or without notice to you.
  10. Applicable Law and Disputes
    These Terms and Conditions and our relationship with you regarding SMECO’s Text Service are governed by the laws of the State of Maryland, without regard to its conflict of laws principles. You and we agree to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the applicable court in Maryland, and you and we hereby waive any jurisdictional, venue or inconvenient forum objections to such courts.
  11. Other
    These Terms and Conditions contain the entire agreement between you and SMECO regarding the use of SMECO’s Text Service and supersede all prior understandings related to use of the Text Service. If any part of these Terms and Conditions is held invalid or unenforceable, that portion shall be construed in a manner consistent with applicable law to reflect, as nearly as possible, the original intentions of these Terms and Conditions, and the remaining portions shall remain in full force and effect.SMECO customer-members may expect to receive a limited number of text messages each month. Reasons for text messages include the following: weather alerts, high bill alerts, billing and payment notifications, and outage alerts. Customers may opt in or opt out of text messages by updating their Notification Preferences in Account Manager.
  12. Contact Us
    If you have any questions or concerns about SMECO’s Text Service, or to report inappropriate content, send a message to our Contact Center or call SMECO at (888) 440-3311 to reach a contact center representative. You may also send an email to us: Email SMECO Customer Service

Your Personal Information

SMECO’s policy is to protect customer data. SMECO does not sell customer data to third parties. As an electric utility governed by the Maryland Public Service Commission, SMECO adheres to the regulations established by the commission, as well as applicable federal, state, and local laws. As a customer-owned cooperative, SMECO believes that the privacy of its customer-members should be protected.

SMECO uses personally identifiable information to identify customer-members for billing purposes.

Personally identifiable information, such as name, address, account number, social security number, or credit and payment information, is used in the course of establishing service, charging or waiving deposits, processing payments, collecting on overdue accounts, and other normal business activities.

SMECO uses personally identifiable information to identify customer-members for service purposes.

Personally identifiable information, such as name, address, account number, and social security number, along with phone number, e-mail address, and other data, may be used to communicate with customers via mail, phone, or internet services through personal contact or automated messages. Data are used to establish service, make repairs, disconnect service or for any related activities that an electric service provider is authorized and expected to perform.

SMECO shares personally identifiable information and other data with its business partners to provide services, bill customers, collect payments, and perform other activities. Third parties provide such services as meter reading, billing (physical and online billing), payment processing (physical, electronic, online, and automated payments), collection activities, overflow call center, online outage reporting, and more.

Your Online Privacy:

SMECO is sensitive to privacy issues with respect to the use of customer information provided to us over the Internet and has created this privacy statement in order to demonstrate our firm commitment to privacy. We believe it is important for you to know how we treat the information about you that is received by us when you visit this site. In general, you can visit SMECO on the Web without telling us who you are or revealing any information about yourself. Our Web servers collect domain names and not the e-mail addresses of our visitors. This information is aggregated to measure the number of visits, average time spent on the site, number of pages viewed, and methods by which our site was found. SMECO uses this information to evaluate the use of our site and to continuously improve the content being provided.

As technologies that we use evolve and change the way that we conduct business, we may amend this policy from time to time. We will post any revisions on this site.

Internet Privacy & Security Policy:

Whether you are a current customer or just visiting our web site, we safeguard the information that you provide to us.

For site purposes and to ensure that this service remains available to all users, this Web site may employ industry-standard methods to monitor network traffic to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information, or otherwise cause damage.

Unauthorized attempts to upload or change information on this service are strictly prohibited and may be punishable under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986 and the National Infrastructure Protection Act.

Privacy Policy for Smart Meter Data:

SMECO’s policy, in accordance with applicable law, is to protect the confidentiality of smart meter energy use data. SMECO’s confidentiality policy applies to data that are under SMECO’s custody, whether the data reside under SMECO’s control or under the control of a SMECO-approved third party.

What Information Is Covered?

SMECO’s smart meters store and communicate customers’ electric energy use data, which include the amount of energy used and the time interval during which the energy was used. This policy covers this smart meter energy use data. SMECO uses the energy use data to bill customers.

SMECO will not sell a customer’s energy use data to a third party. In some instances, SMECO may be required to disclose individual data pursuant to regulation or law.

All customers currently or previously receiving electric distribution or supply service from SMECO, whose usage data is in SMECO’s custody, are covered by this policy. This policy applies to all smart meter energy use data maintained by SMECO, electronic or printed, stored on any medium. Energy use data that are not specific to the customer, such as combined or aggregated data, are not covered by this policy. SMECO discloses energy use data not covered under this policy in accordance with laws, regulations, Maryland Public Service Commission orders, and SMECO’s Commission-approved tariffs.

SMECO is required by law to observe certain prohibitions regarding the disclosure of individual customer data. Customers’ smart meter energy use data will only be collected, processed, retained, or disclosed for legitimate SMECO utility-related business reasons.

Customers may contact SMECO to request their own energy use data. In addition, SMECO may provide energy use data with customer consent to a third party, primarily those providing energy-related products or services, taking into account the nature and frequency of the customer’s request.

What Does SMECO Do to Protect My Data?

SMECO is committed to protecting customer information, and that commitment continues as smart meters are employed and technology evolves. Personally identifiable information, such as name, address, account number, social security number, or credit and payment information, is not transmitted to or from the meter.

SMECO protects smart meter energy use data by using an access-controlled private data network. SMECO employees and their contractors may not access, remove, disclose or use smart meter energy use data (other than for legitimate company business) nor may employees or contractors assist others in such access, removal, disclosure, or use. All employees and contractors who have access to smart meter energy use data are required to maintain the confidentiality of that information during and after employment or engagement with SMECO.