More E-bills, Please

“Raise your hand if you receive your utility bill by email.” This was an ad-hoc survey posed by Linda Jackman, VP of Product Management for Oracle's Utilities Division, to an audience of smart grid enthusiasts at a recent industry conference. I believe the show of hands from this ‘smart’ audience was less than half.

I happened to be in the group that raised their hands, but more importantly, the question to the audience immediately reminded me that the smart grid hoopla must be balanced by the objectives of our investments.

Investments in smart grid technologies offers many benefits which include the potential to better manage our energy usage, lower our energy bills, reduce our carbon emissions (approximately half our electrical energy is generated from coal powered plants), and protect our environment.

Requesting an e-bill over a paper bill has similar environmental benefits at virtually no cost. With an e-bill we eliminate the use of paper, and the energy required to source and process its raw materials. We eliminate the energy required to produce the paper bill and distribute it to our homes. We also eliminate the energy required to recycle or dispose of it.

I get it. Now what’s in it for me?

If there’s a rub, it’s that most of us are more concerned with cost and convenience. If an eco-friendly option isn’t more convenient or less expensive than the current method, the incentive to change is generally pretty low. For example, most of us pay at least some of our bills online because it beats writing a check, putting it an envelope, and dropping it in the mail. The billing part (e-bill) has not enjoyed the same adoption because it does not always strike us offering greater convenience.

According to Ms. Jackman, at roughly 17%, the utility industry has one of the lowest e-bill adoption percentages of any industry. In the mobile phone industry by comparison, 40 - 50% of customers receive an e-bill. In their defense, utilities provide service to a larger and more diverse base of customers. To that end, there will also be a segment of the population who find that a piece of paper in hand, just works better for them.

Six tips for increasing e-bill adoption rates

While we can expect e-bill adoption rates across all industries to grow organically over time, there are a number of things that utilities, as well other businesses, can do to boost their adoption rates.

1. Provide customers with a high level of understanding on how your e-bill program works and provide easy access to frequently asked questions. 
2. Accept feedback and address specific concerns such as the fear of missing a payment in the absence of a physical paper reminder. 
3. Connect your e-bill with multiple online payment options including your website and online banking sites. 
4. List ALL of the advantages of electronic billing to the customer. This would include convenience factors, improved service levels, and environmental benefits. 
5. Consider additional incentives: 
1. Financial incentives may come in the form of small monthly discounts or one-time bonus bucks for switching to a paperless bill format. 
2. Environmental incentives might come in the form of contributions to non-profit carbon offsetters or tree planting organizations for every customer that switches to a paperless format. 
3. Sweepstakes for cool gadgetry or Energy Star products can also be effective at driving conversions. 
6. Give customers numerous opportunities to make the switch by widely incorporating the message into all customer communication touch-points: phone, email, invoices, web, newsletters, advertising, etc. Bottom line: make it easy! 

While we wait for more and more businesses to make it easier for us to switch to an e-bill format, take an extra moment this week to evaluate whether you would be equally served by switching any of your current paper statements to electronic versions.

Look out for a follow up piece with more ideas on reducing unnecessary mail delivered to your home.