Helping customers understand the complexities of utility bills is always challenging, but several Avangrid utilities are using video to make those bills easier to comprehend.
The new educational videos are being used by Avangrid natural gas and electric utilities in Connecticut, Maine and New York, including New York State Electric & Gas and Rochester Gas and Electric.
According to Avangrid, each video is a customer education resource that breaks down and explains the different components of customer bills. The goal of these videos is to make billing more transparent and to detail all customer charges.
“Customer education is an important facet of how we serve our more than 3.3 million electric and natural gas customers across the northeast,” said Pedro Azagra, Avangrid CEO. “We understand that energy bills can be frustratingly complex with supply and delivery charges, taxes and public policy costs. Our new bill explainer videos will clarify all of this so that customers can review their monthly bills and feel empowered to make informed choices about their energy use.”
According to Sarah Warren, national communications manager at Avangrid, the company continually explores ways to enhance customer education materials, and the time was right to move forward with the new video tool.
“Just as Instagram influencers and TikTok trends dominate pop culture, we find that video is our most engaged medium on social media, so we wanted to use it to communicate this vital piece of customer education,” Warren told American Gas. “Video also acts as an engaging feature on our ‘Understanding Your Bill’ landing page for our operating companies, reinforcing the written communication found elsewhere on the page.”
In New York, for example, the bill explainer video illustrates the components of NYSEG and RG&E’s electric and gas bills, including supply, local delivery and policy changes, all of which affect the customer’s ultimate cost.
Warren expects the videos will be updated as bills change.
“Our goal is to increase understanding among our customers about how supply and delivery prices differ and provide them with a better understanding of their bill when they call our customer service lines for help,” she said.
The videos have proved popular, with Avangrid reporting that its first animated bill explainer video has received more than 45,000 views since debuting late last year.