CEMC electric deposit bonds.
From $100.
Instead of tying up cash, Cumberland Electric Membership Corporation (CEMC), the member-owned cooperative, lets a non-residential customer post a surety bond to secure an electric-service account. CEMC sets the deposit amount from your expected usage; premiums cost 2% of the bond amount, $100 minimum.
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How much does a CEMC electric deposit bond cost?
2% of the bond amount, from $100. Enter your amount in the calculator for the exact price.
Three steps. One sitting.
No underwriting queue for the standard utility deposit bond — enter your amount, pay, and deliver it to CEMC. Here is the whole thing:
Apply online
Your business details, the deposit amount CEMC required, and the effective date — that is the application.
Issued on the spot
No credit check up to $10,000. Above $10,000, a soft pull may add a short review.
Deliver to CEMC
Submit the executed bond to Cumberland Electric Membership Corporation in place of your cash deposit. Wet-ink originals mailed on request.
What it is and who needs it.
What the CEMC utility deposit bond actually does
When you open or hold a non-residential Cumberland Electric Membership Corporation account, CEMC — the third-largest distribution cooperative in Tennessee, serving Cheatham, Montgomery, Robertson, Stewart, and Sumner counties — can ask for a security deposit against unpaid bills. Rather than leaving cash on deposit, CEMC’s own rules and regulations permit accounts other than residential to post a surety bond or irrevocable letter of credit for the same amount instead of cash.
It is a three-party arrangement: you (the principal), the surety carrier, and CEMC (the obligee). If the account goes unpaid, CEMC can recover the unpaid balance against the bond up to the deposit amount it set.
It is not insurance for you — if the surety pays a claim, you repay the surety. For most commercial and industrial members the bond is simply a cheaper way to satisfy a deposit than tying up the full amount in cash. We issue CEMC’s required amount from $100, and no credit check up to $10,000.
You need this bond if you are
Claims, renewal, filing, and what sets the price.
If a claim is made
A claim comes from the party the bond protects, the obligee named on the form, when the duty the bond guarantees is not met.
The surety investigates and pays a valid claim, up to the bond amount. You then repay the surety: a surety bond is a guarantee of your performance, not insurance for you.
Renewal and term
The premium covers a one-year term from the effective date you choose.
Renew before the expiry date to keep the bond in force: the license, permit or contract it backs expects continuous coverage.
How to file it
Deliver to CEMC. Submit the executed bond to Cumberland Electric Membership Corporation in place of your cash deposit. Wet-ink originals mailed on request.
What sets the price
The premium is 2% of the bond amount, $100 minimum: the amount the obligee sets moves the price, not your business profile.
No credit check up to $10,000. Above that, the carrier may run a soft pull, which never affects your score.
Where a check runs, it decides approval; the rate is the same for everyone approved.
One application, issued on the spot.
Submit the application with the deposit amount CEMC set — the executed bond is generated instantly, ready to deliver.
Start the application →Common questions.
Other Tennessee bonds.
Price and requirements checked on the carrier’s application, . Page updated .
Bond your deposit, keep your cash.
Premiums from $100. Enter CEMC’s deposit amount and deliver the same day.