Utilities Offer New Ways To Pay Electrical Bills

The menu of bill payment options continues to expand with North America's electric and natural gas utilities as these energy providers seek out more cost-effective ways to serve customers and at the same time provide the services necessary to meet customer demand.

Chartwell, a consulting firm, recently released a report showing that more than half of utilities now have Internet-based billing, while checking account debit has become a nearly universal offering.

The report, entitled, "Cost-Effective Bill Payment Solutions" analyzes bill payment and presentment data collected earlier in 2003 in an exclusive Chartwell survey of 100 utility companies for this latest industry issue report. It is also a follow-up to Chartwell's utility industry bill payment and presentment guide, published in March. The research in the the report states that mail-in check is still the customer's number-one preference for bill payment, but also reveals that various electronic forms of payment are growing in popularity.

A segment of customers that prefers to pay in person, and utilities continue to find ways to address this demographic, such as partnering with various retailers, that can be beneficial to the customer and the utility.

An analysis of the industry shows where utilities of various types are at with their bill-payment service offerings as well as where the industry is headed.

Chartwell's findings include four case studies, including a report on New Hampshire-based Unitil and its relationship with Western Union that has allowed the utility to give its customers a variety of locations to pay their bill. Unitil customers' bills are scanned at Western Union outlets with a bar code technology that automates the remittance process for the utility. Another case study on Cobb Electric Membership Corp., a large electric cooperative in suburban Atlanta, shows how the utility addressed its acceptance of credit card payment and online billing through a third-party vendor.

The report is currently available for purchase, by visiting www.chartwellinc.com.