In-Lane Payments

Paying your Bill is as Easy as Adding it to Your Shopping List.

We’re introducing a new payment option that makes it easy to pay your Consumers Energy bill in person while you’re doing other shopping.

  • Pay your bill (up to $999) in the checkout lane of thousands of Michigan retailers.
  • Use cash to pay up to $999 at any Family Dollar®, Speedway®, 7-Eleven®, Walgreens®, Dollar General® or Pilot Flying J®.
  • Debit cards accepted at any Dollar General® or Pilot Flying J®.

Here’s How it Works:


1: Get Your Barcode

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Get Your Personal Barcode Via Email

2: Go to Local Retailer

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Take Your Barcode to a Participating Retailer

3: Pay Bill at Register

Use Your Barcode to Pay at Check Out

IMPORTANT: Payment posting times could vary or be delayed up to 2 business days. If payment is on a past due balance, please contact Consumers Energy at 800-477-5050 to avoid interruption of service.

For account information, please log in to your customer dashboard on Consumersenergy.com. After making a successful In-Lane payment you may retrieve your full detailed e-receipt at vanilladirect.com/pay/ereceipt/

Consumers Energy rules, regulations, rate schedules, proposed rate scheduled, explanations of rate schedules, and explanations of proposed rate schedules are on file and available for inspection by calling 800-477-5050.

Your Personal Barcode


You will need to use your personal barcode to check out at a local retailer. This barcode is linked to your account, so it’s important to keep it secure once you have received it. Barcodes will be sent by email to pilot customers. You can save the email, or print the barcode. Then bring any of these options to a participating retailer.

To request a new barcode:

Send an email to inlanepayments@cmsenergy.com

  • Please include your account number in your email. Your account number is located in the top right-hand corner of your bill. If you have an online account, you can also find it by clicking here, logging in and going to your account dashboard, where your account number is at the top under your address.
  • Please also include the email address where you want us to deliver your barcode.

PLEASE NOTE:  It may take as long as 48 hours to receive a new barcode. Your barcode is linked to your account, so it’s important to keep it secure once received.

A $1.75 fee applies for each payment transaction. To help during the COVID 19 pandemic, the $1.75 transaction fees are temporarily waived and will be reimbursed in the form of a bill credit for all payments made at authorized agents through December 2020. You do not need to take any action to receive the credit.

In-Lane Payments on each barcode are limited to $999.00 per day, and 10 payment transactions and a total dollar value of $1999 within a 30-day period.

In-Lane Payments are provided by our 3rd Party Payment Provider. By accepting or using an In-Lane barcode to make a payment, you agree to the full terms and conditions, available at vanilladirect.com/pay/terms. After successful payment using this barcode, you may retrieve your full detailed e-receipt at https://pay.vanilladirect.com/ereceipt.

Frequently Asked Questions


Still Have Questions? Give Us a Call.