Chattanooga Gas, Nicor Gas and Virginia Natural Gas together have 1 million paperless billing customers, resulting in positive impacts to the environment and customer satisfaction
One million customers of Chattanooga Gas, Nicor Gas and Virginia Natural Gas have tidier tables and countertops thanks to opting out of traditional paper bills received by mail and embracing digital billing and payment options.
These customers have swapped clutter for convenience.
“Evolving innovations in technology have enabled us to expand our digital billing and payment solutions to provide our customers with options that make it convenient and easy for them to do business with us,” said Jesse Killings, senior vice president of customer operations, safety and training for Southern Company Gas. “Just like technology, our customer expectations are also ever-changing, which is why we’re intentional about further enhancing our digital solutions to help shape an experience our customers desire.”
A growing number of customers adopted paperless billing in the last two years. The reason: newer channels have made it easier for customers to not only receive their bills digitally, but also pay them. The game-changing year was 2019, when native smartphone wallet apps – Apple Wallet and Google Pay – became a convenient way for customers to receive and pay their bills.
In 2020, we added the option for customers to view and pay their bill through their bank or credit union’s website bill pay section, with no convenience fee for their payment. The timing for this new option was ideal as American business and consumer activity largely went digital in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing guidelines. From March to October, approximately 57,000 customers went paperless with their bills, compared to approximately 38,000 customers during the same months last year.
While paperless billing is a convenient choice for our customers, it also positively impacts the environment and results in higher customer satisfaction.
By switching to digital statements, our 1 million customers:
- Have saved approximately 375 tons of paper annually, equivalent to 8,980 trees, and offset 6.7 million pounds of carbon dioxide equivalent, per the Environmental Paper Network calculator.
- Are 21% more satisfied than those customers who receive paper bills, according to company-conducted surveys.
Louise Scott, vice president of customer experience for Southern Company Gas, recognizes that to continue to align with customers’ desire for connectivity with their bill and even to self-serve digitally, increasing the company’s digital engagement with customers is the smart thing to do. “We’re actively involved in projects or evaluating opportunities to leverage additional digital channels, not only for billing and payments, but for other solutions, such as to provide real-time energy usage to customers to help influence their decision-making.”
To learn more about paperless billing options available to our customers, visit the billing and payment pages of our local distribution companies: