A Southern Company Gas push for paperless billing is reaping environmental and customer satisfaction benefits
While the COVID-19 pandemic took away many things, it helped add to the number of Chattanooga Gas, Nicor Gas and Virginia Natural Gas customers who went paperless to embrace digital billing options.
“As part of our mission to make it easier for our customers to do business with us, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, we increased our efforts to shift customers to electronic billing channels,” Jesse Killings, senior vice president of customer operations, safety and training for Southern Company Gas, told American Gas. “As a result, between March and December of 2020, more than 100,000 of our customers signed up to receive digital bills, which is almost twice as many people who went paperless during the same period in 2019.”
Newer channels such as native smartphone wallet apps have made the transition from paper to digital easier and smoother. Last year, the energy company added an option for customers to view and pay their bills through their financial institution’s website bill-pay section, with no convenience fee for their payment. The timing turned out to be perfect since the pandemic pushed much consumer activity digital, Killings said.
While paperless billing is a convenient choice, it also has a positive impact on the environment and customer satisfaction. Per the Environmental Paper Network Calculator, Southern Company Gas’ 1 million customers who are receiving digital statements are saving approximately 375 tons of paper annually, equivalent to 8,980 trees, which offsets 6.7 million pounds of carbon dioxide equivalent. A company survey also found that these customers are 21% more satisfied than customers who receive paper bills. —Carolyn Kimmel
