When setting up a bill payment with the electric company do you put in the routen number or does the company and that's what they use?

Usually all you need is your name and address. The utility company then associates your name to the number of the meter where you reside. When the meter reader takes a reading he doesn't need to know who lives there, he just writes down the consumption numbers on the meter. The utility company then adds this number to last months number, the difference being the amount that you used over the month. The utility company then charges you their rate per kilowatt hour and you are billed that amount.