Improving Paperless Adoption Rates with Industry Best Practices Report Update

Improving Paperless Adoption Rates with Industry Best Practices Report Update Improving Paperless Adoption Rates with Industry Best Practices Report Update - The Canadian Electricity Association August 2021

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Since 2015, CEA’s Customer Council has conducted annual member surveys to better understand adoption of paperless billing across Canada. In 2020, CEA developed, Improving Paperless Adoption Rates with Industry Best Practices report. This report analyzed e-billing member data from 2015 - 2020 and provided insights from research on relevant sectors such as banking and telecom. CEA also conducted interviews with staff from BC Hydro and Hydro Ottawa, who currently have the highest e-billing penetration rates among participating members. SaskPower also provided information on their outstanding e-billing successes during 2020.

CEA has built upon that research by adding the results of the latest polls conducted in May 2021 and expanded on technology/digital and new marketing trends. The report also provides analysis and data from external research publications and data models on customer behavior, in addition to new white papers from other sectors. This update provides members with a better understanding of the latest trends, best practices, and existing gaps regarding paperless billing adoption in the Canadian energy context. The report also shines a light on leading member utilities and offers practical recommendations to increase e-bill adoption rates.

The updated e-billing report reveals the following: •

CEA members experienced a significant increase in customer adoption of e-bills due to effective e-billing campaigns and for health and safety reasons due to the pandemic. This year members realized significant cost savings, continued to meet customers’ needs and expectations while helping the environment and engaging in community and social initiatives.

•

Between 2019- 2020, the average e-billing penetration rate among member utilities was at 34%. Our data shows that unlike any other growth rate witnessed in previous years (average 2.5%), a significant spike of 7.20% was reported in the overall e-billing uptake among Canadian energy utilities. The COVID-19 pandemic and focussed marketing and customer awareness initiatives by members have impacted billing preferences for the rest of 2020 - 2021.

•

With over 60% of its customers going paperless, BC Hydro has the highest e-billing penetration rate in Canada followed by Hydro Ottawa (56%).

The lowest penetration rate reported was 14%.

This year, Hydro Québec has joined the top 5 list of members with 53% conversion rate (6% growth rate between 2020-2021).

•

While other members witnessed an average growth in customer enrolment rate by 4 - 5% through aggressive campaigns and marketing initiatives, SaskPower, Hydro One and London Hydro grew by 25%, 18% and 15% respectively within the same timeframe primarily by autoenrolling customers and targeted customer campaigns and awareness initiatives.

•

Last year, only two members, BC Hydro and Hydro One launched an auto enrollment pilot program for customers who had their email addresses on file. Today, SaskPower, Saint John Energy, NB Power, Nova Scotia Power, Utilities Kingston, London Hydro, and Oakville Hydro are planning auto enrollment initiatives in 2021.

•

Based on member responses, CEA has observed broadly two types of e-bill viewing channels offered by members: 1) Website/ self-service portals and 2) Email communications. Currently, 5 out of 16 members who participated in the 2021 survey stated that they have mobile web portals, and 3 utilities have mobile apps that accommodate e-bill viewing. E-bill viewing by text/ SMS or IVR options are currently not available among any member utilities without signing into self-service portals. Currently, Manitoba Hydro, Saint John Energy and NB Power are using text (and email) messages as a notification tool.

•

Members are currently viewing billing and payment as separate processes. Our research indicates that new technologies provide a tremendous opportunity to merge billing and payment into a single, efficient, and cost saving process. Online and mobile technologies further strengthen the bill-pay relationship since customers can view balances and make payments in a single step. Currently, Nova Scotia Power and Oakville Hydro have partnered with a third-party payment vendor (Kubra) and have been successful in integrating customer e-bill viewing and payment within their portal.

•

As of 2021, cheques, preauthorized debits (PADs), credit cards and online banking are the only options available to customers. There is a huge untapped potential to improve customer satisfaction in this area.

•

•

Despite e-mail being the most prevalent digital bill viewing channel, a secure e-billing service that allows reviewing bill summary and making secure payments directly from an email inbox does not currently exist. As of 2021, no member offers a comprehensive e-bill presentment solution to customers.

Although members have developed an in-house solution around bill payment and presentment, the current technical infrastructure among most members is still functioning within legacy systems and cannot be scaled to offer a complete seamless to end to end Electronic Payment and Presentment (EBP) solution to customers.

•

Service models in other sectors like banking and telecom are shaping customer expectations.

A number of factors including jurisdictional regulatory frameworks, legacy systems, digital channel diversity, acceleration of technology and web and mobile support, to name a few, are hindering companies from being able to rapidly respond to customer demands. These forces, and the ways members adapt to them will have a significant impact on paperless adoption in the future and overall customer satisfaction.

•

The results demonstrate that most members use an average of 3 tools to communicate paperless billing initiatives. Hydro Ottawa, with a 56% paperless billing adoption rate, is the only utility that employs almost all methods of communication channels to promote their campaigns including: self-service portals, bill onserts/inserts, radio, bus shelters, website/ My Account portal, call on hold messaging, and google ad display.

•

Currently, Toronto Hydro, SaskPower, BC Hydro and Hydro Ottawa are members that use data analytics tools. By utilizing behavioural research, innovative tools and analytics members will be able to exceed the 50% e-billing enrolment rate.

Since 2015, CEA’s Customer Council has conducted annual member surveys to better understand adoption of paperless billing across Canada.

TABLE OF CONTENTS Executive Summary.........................................................................................................................1 Introduction......................................................................................................................................5 Current E-Billing Landscape in Canada..........................................................................................................................6 Customer Council 2021 Key Survey Findings..............................................................................................................7

Consumer Trends Driving Paperless Billing................................................................................9 E-Bill Adoption - Utilities vs Other Sectors....................................................................................................................9 Consumer Behavior and Bill Payment Preferences................................................................................................. 10

2021 Survey Findings................................................................................................................... 13 Payment Channels.............................................................................................................................................................. 13 E-Bill Delivery Channels.................................................................................................................................................... 15 Communication Channels............................................................................................................................................... 18

Best Practices................................................................................................................................. 23 Innovative Ways to Target Customers - Hydro Ottawa.......................................................................................... 23 Paperless Billing Campaigns........................................................................................................................................... 24 Technology Partners - E-Billing and Payment........................................................................................................... 25

SaskPower Case Study................................................................................................................. 29 Conclusion...................................................................................................................................... 31

Improving Paperless Adoption Rates with Industry Best Practices Report Update - The Canadian Electricity Association

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INTRODUCTION CEA’s Customer Council fosters collective action on issues of strategic importance to members with a focus on delivery of value to member’s customers. It is the only national forum in Canada dedicated to customer service in the electricity sector and represents the interests of residential, commercial, and industrial customers.

The Customer Council conducts regular member driven surveys on top-of-mind issues and examines ways to better communicate, quantify and present results so that they are more meaningful and actionable for members. Since 2015, CEA’s Customer Council has conducted annual polls to better understand adoption of paperless billing. In 2020, CEA developed the report: Improving Paperless Adoption Rates with Industry Best Practices.

The report analyzed e-billing member data from 2015 - 2020 and provided insights from research on relevant sectors such as banking and telecom, additionally, interviews were conducted with staff from BC Hydro and Hydro Ottawa - members who currently have the highest e-billing penetration rates among participants. SaskPower also provided information on their outstanding e-billing successes during 2020.

CEA has built upon that research by adding the results of the latest polls conducted in May 2021 and expanded on the technology/digital and new marketing trends. The new report also provides analysis and data from external research publications and data models on customer behavior, in addition to new white papers from sectors like banking and telecom. This update helps members to better understand the latest trends, best practices, and existing gaps regarding paperless billing adoption in the Canadian energy context. It also offers practical recommendations to increase e-bill adoption rates and highlights leading members.

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Improving Paperless Adoption Rates with Industry Best Practices Report Update - The Canadian Electricity Association

CURRENT E-BILLING LANDSCAPE IN CANADA In May 2021, the CEA collected data from 16 member utilities and analyzed both recent and historical survey results over the past 5 years. The results suggest that active and strategic e-billing initiatives launched by members, along with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, are continuing to drive paperless billing adoption rates in Canada, convincing customers to adopt to a more digital relationship with their utilities. The data shows that unlike any other growth rate seen in previous years (average 2.5%), there has been a significant increase of 7.3% between 2020 and 2021 - an average 10% increase in e-billing uptake between 2019 and 2021. (Figure 1)

Figure 1: E-Bill Growth Rate (2017-2021)

+2.1%

+2.7%

+2.6%

+2.5%

25.23%

27.88%

30.49%

33.04%

2017

2018

2019

2020

+7.3% 40.36% 2021

Overall Ebill Growth Rate is + 15.13 % since 2017 Source: CEA Customer council polls

As customers become more accustomed to e-mail bills, digital uptake for e-bill viewing and payment will also continue to increase in the foreseeable future as dependency of paper decreases. Macro factors such as increasing comfort and trust with online transactions, online banking and bill payment, the mainstream use of mobile devices and apps for bill viewing and payment, as well as the rollout of new apps are also propelling e-bill adoption in the electricity space.

The above chart (Figure 1) demonstrates that our member’s customers preference for physical mail has further declined from around 75% in 2017 to 60% in 2021. A similar trend was captured in the 2020, Kubra Utility Consumer Behaviour and Payment Report (Figure 2) which surveyed utility customers from Canada and the U.S. In 2018, 42% of utility customer surveyed received paper bills by mail and 41% by email. In 2020, preference for physical mail of bills dropped to 31%, and today 29% of customers prefer mail to digital. Email has continued to rise steadily to 46%, as other digital channels (online websites, mobile apps, and text messages) rose to a combined 47% in popularity with customers.

Figure 2: Bill delivery preference, 2018-2020

29%

Physical Mail

41%

E-Mails Online Portals Mobile App Text Message

42%

4%

9%

5%

11%

3%

4%

42%

2020 2018

Source: Kubra 2020 Billing and Payment Report Improving Paperless Adoption Rates with Industry Best Practices Report Update - The Canadian Electricity Association

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CUSTOMER COUNCIL 2021 KEY SURVEY FINDINGS • All members who participated in CEA’s 2021 e-billing survey indicated that they are actively promoting paperless billing programs and initiatives. BC Hydro, Hydro Ottawa and Newfoundland Power continue to be in the 50 - 60% customer adoption rate category. This year however, Hydro Québec has joined the top 5 list of members with over 50% conversion rate (6% growth rate between 2020-2021). BC Hydro continues to have the highest e-billing penetration rate of 60.9%.

• The electricity sector is seeing significant growth in e-billing adoption in 2021. Member utilities with higher success rates employ a systematic approach towards customer awareness, investments (i.e., analytics software, behavioural research), and have executed strategic customer focussed campaigns. Members with lower customer penetration rates stated that they will initiate auto enabling of new customers as a faster strategy to achieve their e-billing goals.

Figure 3: Top 5 contributors E-billing growth rate, 2021 Overall Growth Rate Members

Current E-billing Adoption Rate

2020-2021

2019-2021

SaskPower

 25%

 28%

47%

Hydro One

 18%

 26%

46%

London Hydro

 15%

 15%

45%

Nova Scotia Power

 10%

 11%

48%

Alectra Utilities

 9%

 11%

28%

Source: CEA Customer council polls

• The spike in growth compared to last year is also due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Member’s covid focussed campaigns were effective because consumers are now more motivated to make the switch to digital bills.

• While CEA members witnessed an average growth rate in customer enrollment by 4% to 5%, SaskPower, Hydro One and London Hydro grew by 25%, 18% and 15% respectively within the same time frame primarily by auto-enrolling customers (Figure 3). The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and focussed marketing initiatives have also positively impacted billing preferences for 2020- 2021.

• Close to 50% of members who participated in this year’s survey reported that they plan to initiate default paperless billing in 2021. Members who were previously hesitant about auto enabling e-billing are planning to use this strategy, the result will have a positive impact on the overall e-billing enrollment rate in Canada in 2022.

• Members with higher adoption rates of above 50% have implemented multiple on-line and off-line channels to promote initiatives and have utilized traditional marketing strategies that lead with educational messaging and incentives to motivate adoption. E-mail continues to be the most widely used tool to inform customers of e-billing initiatives.

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Improving Paperless Adoption Rates with Industry Best Practices Report Update - The Canadian Electricity Association

The electricity sector is seeing significant growth in e-billing adoption in 2021. Members with higher success rates employ a systematic approach towards customer awareness, investments, such as analytics software or behavioural research, and executed strategic customer focused campaigns.

CONSUMER TRENDS DRIVING PAPERLESS BILLING E-BILL ADOPTION – UTILITIES VRS OTHER SECTORS Despite a significant growth spike in the electricity sector in 2021, industries like telecom and the banking sector continue to boast e-billing adoption rates of 50% and higher, while the rate of adoption among members is currently 40% (Figure 4).

Figure 4: Energy Utilities vs Other Sectors E-billing Penetration Rate: 2017-2021 40% 25% 35%

43% 52%

43%

62%

52% 2017 Telecom

2018 Banking/Financial

2019

2020 Insurance

2021 Energy Utilities

Source: Annual state of Transactional communication survey, Key point intelligence -Info Trends, 2017 Except for Energy utility data, other sector e-billing data was forecasted for 2021

The telecom sector boasts over 60% of their customers on digital bills. Research indicates that most telecom companies in Canada have already considered a full auto-enablement of customers to digital bills. All major wireless carriers have migrated their flagship brands to electronic-only billing with no paper billing option (exceptions include persons with disabilities, senior citizens etc.).

Since 2018, Telus, and its subsidiary brand Koodo, started to notify their customers who still received paper bills that they will be getting e-bills for the foreseeable future. A similar announcement was made by Rogers, Bell, and SaskTel in 2019. This move has allowed telecom companies to quickly migrate their customers to e-bills without significant investments in marketing initiatives. Customer service models in these sectors are rapidly shaping utilities’ customer expectations.

Our analysis shows that the growth in e-billing numbers is directly proportional to the growth in the customer base. By establishing e-bills as the default mode and paper bills as the “opt-in” option for new customers, utilities will be able to gain approximately 95% new customer enrollments for paperless. Last year, more than 70% of members who participated in the survey stated that although they do not auto enroll their customers, they do attempt to make the customer account default to e-billing during the sign-up phase. Last year, two members, BC Hydro and Hydro One launched an auto enrollment pilot program for customers who have email addresses on file. SaskPower, Saint John Energy, NB Power, Nova Scotia Power, Utilities Kingston, London Hydro, and Oakville Hydro are all planning auto enrollment initiatives in 2021. It is anticipated that the growth rate in overall e-billing rates in the sector will increase significantly in 2022 because of these planned initiatives.

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Improving Paperless Adoption Rates with Industry Best Practices Report Update - The Canadian Electricity Association

CONSUMER BEHAVIOR AND BILL PAYMENT PREFERENCES According to the 2020 Kubra Consumer Bill Payment Preference Report (Figure 5), consumers prefer to make payments directly from their bank account, however, innovative payment platforms such as PayPal, Google Pay and Apple Pay are gaining momentum. Although consumers are turning to mobile apps to pay their bills, channels such as web chat, chat bots, artificial intelligence and machine learning are also growing in popularity. CEA members are starting to build these offerings into their customer strategies, different channels are starting to become available to different customers so they can engage with their utility when and how they choose and can switch seamlessly between channels.

In 2018, the most preferred payment channels were bank website (55%), utility website (40%), and mobile app (32%). In 2020- 2021, although the top three payment preferences are unchanged, there has been a significant shift with mobile apps as the top payment channel (57%). Like payment channels, payment forms have also been evolving to offer tech-savvy customers more options.

Figure 5: Changes in Consumer Behaviour for Bill Payment Channels, North America, 2018-2020 2018

55%

2020

57%

Figure 6: Preference of Bill Payment Methods, Canada, 2019-2020

Other

6%

Interact E-Transfer

5%

Credit Card

45%

14%

Online Banking

45%

53% 40%

Debit Card

3%

Cheque and Paper

4%

5% Bank Website

Utility Website

Mobile App

24%

PAD

32%

Text Messages

Source: Kubra 2020 Consumer Billing and Payment Report

Source: 2020 Canada Payments Report

Improving Paperless Adoption Rates with Industry Best Practices Report Update - The Canadian Electricity Association

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A Payments Canada report states that online banking (internet or mobile banking), PADs (Pre-Authorized Debits) and credit cards are used the most to pay bills. Speed and ease, as well as control over payment timings and amounts, are the biggest drivers for bill payment choice.

As more and more consumers become familiar with mobile bill payments, members can anticipate an increase in the number of bills being paid via mobile banking through to 2025. In the 2021 Customer Council survey, all except for two members allowed payment through PADs and online banking (Figure 7). This trend is consistent with the findings of the 2020 Payment’s Canada report - pointing to the convenience factor of automated withdrawals.

Notably, over half of credit card users claimed that rewards play a significant role in their use for bill payments, something that is exclusive to credit card use. Since rewards continue to be a key consideration of credit card use, more comprehensive reward programs associated with bill payments can persuade customers to switch to paperless billing. For example, RBC recently introduced a “Pay with Points” program in 2018 which allowed customers to pay various bills with their credit card rewards. Currently, more than 95% of members are offering credit cards as an option to broaden convenient payment features. London Hydro has waived payment fees associated with credit card payment as an incentive for customers to adopt e-bills. Given London Hydro’s overall growth rate this year, waiving these payment fees may have been a factor in this increase. Visa and Mastercard branded debit cards are also a viable alternative for bill payments however they don’t include rewards. Hydro Ottawa, Nova Scotia Power and Utilities Kingston currently allow payment via debit card to their customers.

The Payments Canada report revealed that bills paid using paper methods (i.e., cheques) has significantly decreased, however, it is important to note that 100% of our survey participants continue to offer cheques as a payment option. Generally, cheques are a preferred method of payment for older generations as they tend to be more comfortable with this method than digital payment methods.

While Interac e-Transfer is not currently a direct bill payment option for larger corporations, such as utilities, consumers can use Interac e-transfer to make bill payments directly to providers using third party services (i.e., Paytm). NB Power is the only member offering Interac e-transfers as a bill payment option.

Digital wallets like Apple Pay, Google Pay, and PayPal are becoming more and more common payment methods however this is not yet available for utility customers but something members should consider as the digital landscape continues to evolve.

In 2018, the most preferred payment channels were bank website (55%), utility website (40%), and mobile app (32%). In 2020- 2021, although the top three payment preferences are unchanged, there has been a significant shift with mobile apps as the top payment channel (57%). Like payment channels, payment forms have also been evolving to offer tech-savvy customers more options.

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Improving Paperless Adoption Rates with Industry Best Practices Report Update - The Canadian Electricity Association

As more and more consumers become familiar with mobile bill payments, members can anticipate an increase in the number of bills being paid via mobile banking through to 2025.

2021 SURVEY FINDINGS PAYMENT CHANNELS • Canadian energy companies lag other sectors in offering customers omni payment channels through mobile apps, pay by text and IVR, as examples. As of 2021, cheques, PADs, credit cards and online banking are the primary options currently available to utility customers. This is a gap in customer offerings and a clear potential to further improve customer satisfaction in this area.

• SaskPower and Nova Scotia Power have the greatest number of payment channels available to customers (Cheques, Debit Card, Credit Card, Payment through online portals, Pre-Authorized Debits, Online Banking, Money Mart and Money Gram).

• Savvy mobile users will find it fast and easy to go paperless with one of four digital payment options like an app, browser, email, and text. Currently 5 utilities (SaskPower, BC Hydro, London Hydro, Saint John Energy and Nova Scotia Power) allow payment through a website/self service portal).

• Despite e-mail being the most prevalent digital bill viewing channel, a secure e-billing service that allows reviewing bill summary and making secure payments directly from email inbox does not currently exist. As of 2021, there are no members who offer a comprehensive e-bill presentment solution to customers.

Currently 5 utilities (SaskPower, BC Hydro, London Hydro, Saint John Energy and Nova Scotia Power) allow payment through a website/self service portal.

Newfoundland Power Inc.











Hydro Ottawa









Toronto Hydro







SaskPower











BC Hydro











NB Power





London Hydro







Saint-John Energy







Manitoba Hydro





Other

Phone Banking



Google Pay/Apple Pay/Samsung

Bank Payment (Online/In-Person



Pay by Text/Email

Pre-Authorized Debit (PAD)



Website/Self Service Portal



Mobile App



Credit Card

Fortis BC

Debit Card

Payment Mode

Cheque

Figure 7: Payment Methods offered by survey participants, 2021

ATMs, Money Gram

Tel Pay



Money Gram EFT



Interac

 









Money Gram

Hydro Quebec







ATMs

Nova Scotia Power







Money Mart, Money Gram

Oakville Hydro









Utilities Kingston









Alectra Utilities

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





Hydro One



















EFT Union

Improving Paperless Adoption Rates with Industry Best Practices Report Update - The Canadian Electricity Association

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E-BILL DELIVERY CHANNELS Members are typically offering one, or a combination, of the following e-Bill channels (Figure 8).

Figure 8: E-Bill Delivery Channels, Canada, 2021

Email PDF

Mobile App

Fortis BC







Newfoundland Power Inc.











Channels

Hydro Ottawa

Email Summary



Mobile Web Portal

Toronto Hydro SaskPower

Text/ SMS

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









NB Power



London Hydro



Bill Ready Alert





Saint-John Energy

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Manitoba Hydro





Hydro Quebec





Nova Scotia Power





Oakville Hydro





Utilities Kingston





Alectra Utilities Hydro One

IVR



BC Hydro

15

Website/ Self Service Portal

Bill Ready Alert

 

Bill Ready Alert



Improving Paperless Adoption Rates with Industry Best Practices Report Update - The Canadian Electricity Association

Website Portals: Currently all members who responded to the recent survey indicated that they allow customers to view their bills by logging in to their account or self-service portal once they opt for paperless billing. A typical e-bill enrollment process has approximately 8 steps to be completed before customers are enrolled (Figure 9).

Figure 9: Registration Process for E-billing on Account Portal

LOG IN Go to the Website

Register on the Portal

Save Security Details for Future

Log In

Accept Terms & Conditions

Click on a Checkbox To Go Paperless

Navigate to the Paperless Section

SUBMIT Click Submit

Self service portals display the type and quantity of service received, the price per unit, and the final sum.

Customers can choose between payment options such as credit card and direct deposit. Utility web portals also allow customers to click on graphs and tables that show energy use and bill trends over time.

Providing a portal as a key feature to go paperless will directly affect the number of customers willing to adopt a full paperless process. The 2017 Capgemini Digital Transformation report highlights that the customer who is purchasing, and consuming utility services has fundamentally evolved - today’s digital savvy customers are looking for personalized service and customized products.

Email: Email continues to be the most prevalent tool used to view and alert customers that their bill is ready.

Last year members reported that e-mail alerts were the only widely used bill notification tool. All members reported that each customer enrolled in paperless billing received a “Your bill is ready to view” notification by e-mail. In CEA’s 2021 survey, only 4 out of 16 members used a PDF copy in their bills, and SaskPower and Fortis BC offer a choice to the customer to include a copy of the bill as an attachment.

While the “bill ready” notification is a convenient paperless bill offering, the downside of relying on this method is the risk that the customer misses the notification due to a cluttered email in-box. And even if a customer sees the e-mail alert, they cannot view the bill statement unless they sign into their account via the utility portal. Signing into an online account means having to record and retrieve or remember another username and password. And if they can’t remember a password, the customer must use the password recovery process to check their statement every time they forget. Because of this process, it will be increasingly important for members to consider engaging with newer digital platforms like mobile apps and text messages etc. for customers to view and pay bills.

Improving Paperless Adoption Rates with Industry Best Practices Report Update - The Canadian Electricity Association

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In terms of configuration of e-mail bills, all members have reported that customers cannot configure elements of their bills online, however, BC Hydro indicated that customers can choose between a basic e-mail that only notifies that their “bill is ready” or an e-mail that includes the bill amount, due date, equal payment plan status, and a summary of consumption. This is selected through a setting the customer can select in their profile. NB Power allows a language setting preference between English or French. Hydro Ottawa offers two different email notifications. The ‘standard’ email simply notifies the customer that their bill is ready and the customer can opt for an ‘enhanced’ version that includes the address, amount due, due date, and automated payment withdrawal date, if applicable. Customers also have the choice of language preference - emails are sent in English or French based on the customer’s MyAccount profile. Other members indicated that they either send a plain automated e-mail stating that their bill is ready to view which sometimes includes the payment due date and the amount due.

Mobile apps and Mobile portals: Mobile apps offer the ability to view and pay a bill through a mobile-friendly website, a smartphone app or from an email attachment. Phone apps typically offer the same or better features as the web version. With apps, customers can pay their bills quickly and on the move which can significantly decrease payment defaults, apps also offer personalized features and can function offline. Currently, 5 out of 16 members who participated in the 2021 survey stated that they have mobile web portals, and 3 utilities have mobile apps that accommodate e-bill viewing but currently no utility is offering any type of payment features on their mobile web portals or mobile apps.

Hydro Ottawa launched a mobile app in 2018 that allows customers to view and access their electricity consumption and bill information. In the future, Hydro Ottawa reports that they plan to integrate a “Pay via app” feature for all their customers. Alectra Utilities reported that they are planning to launch an app in 2022/2023 which would allow customers to both view and pay their bill, and SaskPower also stated that they plan to launch a mobile friendly web portal later this year.

Text/SMS and IVR: E-bill viewing by text/SMS or IVR without signing into self-service portal are currently not options available amongst members who participated in this years’ survey. Currently, Manitoba Hydro, Saint John Energy and NB Power are using text (and email) messages as a notification tool. Currently, no members are using IVR (automated voice alert). It is important to note that telecom providers globally allow customers to view their bills by sending a coded text message to retrieve their e-bills directly to their phones as an SMS message.

Additionally, Telus allows their customers to make payment via IVR and mobile apps.

Last year members reported that e-mail alerts were the only widely used bill notification tool.

COMMUNICATION CHANNELS Oracle research, presented to the Customer Council on April 21, 2021, (Figure 10) showed that in the next decade Generation Z (Gen. Z) is set to increase by over 140%, and by 2040 it will be twice the size of the Boomer generation.

According to Oracle’s research, Gen Z is the generation that has been impacted the most by the pandemic and they continue to struggle to pay their bills. Direct contact with their utility has been crucial during the pandemic so it’s interesting to note that the phone has been a key channel across all generations. The role of CSR agents is not to be underestimated as they have been key to helping customers during these difficult times. Last year, SaskPower mobilized their CSR team to make proactive outbound calls to connect with, and help, customers while at the same time promoting e-billing as a safe alternative to receiving a paper copy of their bill. As a result, they were able to realize a conversion rate of 60,862 customers in 5 months.

Figure 10: Communication Channel preferences of Customer, Canada, 2021

26%

30%

21%

23%

0% 3%

20%

17%

18%

13%

7%

16%

7%

5%

1%

Gen Z (18-24 years old) Mail

Phone

Social Channels

1% 2%

Millenials (25-39 years old)

21% 1% 0%

6%

4%

Email

27%

25%

19%

3%

30%

29%

2%

Gen X (40-54 years old)

Website

Text

8% 7% 6%

Boomer (55+ years old)

Mobile App

Chatbot/Digital Assistants

Source: 2021, Oracle Report: X, Y, Z - how to adapt to the generation shift and the new digital & sustainable customer?

Sample Size: 506; 20% respondents included. Filter applied for Canada.

Customers globally are demanding better customer service and communication from their utility. According to Oracle’s research, 30% of Gen Z view their utility the worst compared to phone and online retailers. Close to 60% of customers surveyed in Canada stated that interacting with their energy provider feels like using an outdated cell phone.

Although there are multiple on-line and offline marketing tools available in the market today, the Customer Council surveys show that most members use an average of 3 tools to communicate paperless billing initiatives. Figure 11 reflects current e-billing marketing channels adopted by members. Hydro Ottawa, with a 56% paperless billing adoption rate, is the only utility that employs almost all methods of communication channels to promote their e-bill campaigns, including self-service portals, bill onserts/inserts, radio, bus shelters, website / My Account portal, call on hold messaging, and google ad display.

Improving Paperless Adoption Rates with Industry Best Practices Report Update - The Canadian Electricity Association

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Figure 11: Channels for E-Bill Marketing E-Mail

Social Media

CSR Agents

Inserts/ Onserts

Newsletters/ Bulletins

Google Display

Website/Self Service Portals Taditional Marketing (Radio & Bus etc.)

E-mail Communication A monthly e-mail provides a regular touchpoint and a reliable way to remind customers about paperless billing promotions. According to the 2021 Questline Report, email newsletter engagement (measured by click toopen rate) reached a four-year high in March and April 2020, and customers engaged with coronavirus-related content at two times the rate of other content. One in four customers opened a promotional email during April 2020, an 18% higher open rate and 27% higher click-through rate than the previous year. The most successful campaigns highlighted programs that help customers save energy and money, with energy efficiency and paperless billing campaigns leading the way. Energy efficiency messages delivered a 26% open rate during the pandemic, and paperless billing campaigns had a 27% open rate during initial months of COVID-19 pandemic (20% increase since 2019). In April 2020, more than 22% of content views generated outbound clicks to program links, driving enrollment to paperless billing, My Account, energy efficiency and other programs. These findings are similar to what we’ve seen in our survey results, 64% of respondents actively engaged with their customers through email, as a marketing initiative of their e-billing campaigns.

Website / Self Service Portal Optimization More than 56% of consumers visit a utilities’ website to pay a bill, 38% to review billing and payments, and 34% to access their bill, according to the 2014 Billing Household Survey. Additionally, according to the Enhancing Digital Adoption Strategy 2020 report published by Broadbridge, 37% of customers surveyed chose website/selfservice portals as the most effective communication tool used by utilities to promote campaigns (3rd highest after E-mail - 46%; Mobile app - 41%). Currently, 5 members who have an above average e-billing adoption rate (45% and above), namely Hydro Ottawa, BC Hydro, Newfoundland Power Manitoba Hydro, Hydro Quebec and Hydro One, have reported that they use their website and self-service portals to educate and raise customer awareness about their e-billing initiatives.

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Improving Paperless Adoption Rates with Industry Best Practices Report Update - The Canadian Electricity Association

Social Media Social media can be an effective and low-cost tool to support member’s e-bill campaigns and goals. Fortis BC, Newfoundland Power, Hydro Ottawa, Alectra Utilities, Toronto Hydro and SaskPower promote e-billing campaigns on their social media platforms.

Most members have an active social media presence and communicate with customers on topics such as power outages, but they are not as active in promoting paperless campaigns on these platforms. Communicating e-bill value propositions on social media can enhance a campaign however, according to recent research from Oracle, Gen. Z and Millennials do not consider utilities as part of their social network, therefore investing heavily in digital campaigns on these platforms may not be as effective compared to investments in other channels.

CSR Agents We found that highlighting the benefits of going paperless through a CSR team has produced proven results in customer conversion. The best-case example for this was when BC Hydro’s conversion rate plateaued after they had crossed 50% customer penetration mark. BC Hydro targeted a list of top commercial customers who had an online account but were still on paper and made calls to educate them on the benefits of e-billing. Based on customer feedback, additional support, like live demonstration sessions, was provided to those customers who found it difficult to navigate an online space. This initiative produced positive results for the organization and has enabled an additional 10% increase, the utility is the first CEA survey participant to hit the 60% mark.

Positioning e-bill enrollment when a customer calls has proven to be an effective method adopted by some members, BC Hydro, SaskPower and Fortis BC train their agents to promote e-billing enrollment during the initial account set-up phase. BC Hydro believes that among all their other marketing initiatives, this has proved to be the most affordable and fastest way to enable customers to adopt e-billing.

Some members have also incentivized their CSR agents to achieve monthly or annual e-billing goals. For example, FortisBC increased their e-bill enrollment by incentivizing their agents for every e-bill conversion. Agents would make outbound calls and send promotional e-mails to customers not receiving e-bills to encourage them to make the switch. A similar approach was taken by Alectra Utilities, in order to ‘upsell’ e-billing to customers, contact center agents are able to enroll in an opt-in incentive program where the company provides weekly and monthly draws for company products to agents who participate.

Inserts/Onserts/ Print Advertisement (brochures/newsletters) Digital has increasingly become the marketing channel for companies trying to reach more customers, connecting on social media and through mobile apps. However, traditional methods, like mail inserts and onserts, are proving to still be effective. Approximately 50% of inserts or add-ins accompanying a utility bill or providing notifications as part of the bill, are read compared to email marketing which has an average open rate of under 20% (Kubra report).

With over 60% of Canadian consumers still on paper bills, our research concludes that bill inserts are still an effective marketing channel. Similarly, onserts and brochures are also effective because it increases customer engagement by making e-billing messages more personal. Creating targeted (even regional) messaging and making recommendations or offers based on customer activity and preferences allows members to better connect with customers. It also works seamlessly with both print bills and e-bills, which increases flexibility for customers while maximizing reach. Onserts are more likely to be read because there is less danger of them getting tossed with the envelope. Used in tandem, inserts, brochures and onserts can greatly enhance member marketing initiatives.

Our surveys reveal that Fortis BC, Newfoundland Power, Hydro Ottawa and Toronto Hydro use bill inserts and onserts to effectively promote paperless billing campaigns. Secondary to website marketing, Hydro Ottawa indicated that bill inserts, and bill envelopes were the most leveraged marketing tool used to promote digital billing campaigns. In 2017, as part of their diversity and inclusion initiative, Hydro Ottawa produced and e-billing brochure in Chinese for customers whose first language was not English/ French. In 2018, this initiative was expanded to Arabic.

Improving Paperless Adoption Rates with Industry Best Practices Report Update - The Canadian Electricity Association

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Traditional marketing tools (Radio, newsletters, bus shelter advertisement Bus ads, community outreach posters) Traditional marketing techniques continue to be critical in reaching local or regional audiences. Despite the costs associated with traditional marketing channels, members find that these channels are particularly helpful when dealing with increasing scams and fraudsters. For example, London Hydro believes that although Radio Ads and billboards may not persuade consumers to instantly enroll in ebilling, they still play a significant role because they promote awareness of the local utility and the e-billing initiatives thereby increasing trust when outbound promotional calls are made. Hydro Ottawa is also a key proponent of Radio Ads.

Figure 12: E-billing Marketing Initiatives, Canada

Digital Campaign

Digital Campaign

Company Website, Social Media.

Google Display Ads

No current digital campaigns are running.

Offline Campaigns

Bill Inserts, Envelops, Brochure, Community Association Newsletter.

Outreach Posters, Facebook Ads, Bus Shelter Ads, Radio Ads, Weather Network Website, Oc Transpo Ads

Key Partnerships

CHEO, Environics, Creative Marketing Agencies

Future Platforms

Mobile Apps, Text Messages, Alexa and Siri

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Offline Campaigns E-Billing Marketing Channels

Bill Inserts, Bus Shelter Ads, Radio Ads, Billboards, Public Transport Ads

Key Partnerships

Billboard Companies, Media Companies, Local Radio Station

Future Platforms SMS/Text, IVR

Improving Paperless Adoption Rates with Industry Best Practices Report Update - The Canadian Electricity Association

Oracle research shows that Gen. Z and Millennials do not consider utilities as part of their social media network, therefore investing heavily in digital campaigns on these platforms may not be as effective compared to investments in other channels.

BEST PRACTICES INNOVATIVE WAYS TO TARGET CUSTOMERS – HYDRO OTTAWA • Hydro Ottawa is the third largest municipally owned electric utility in Ontario serving approximately 340,000 residential and commercial customers. Hydro Ottawa’s customer base grows at an average of 1% per year and currently has the second largest e-billing subscription rate among member utilities – 56%.

• Since 2015, Hydro Ottawa e-billing subscribership has witnessed an overall growth rate of 22% and falls under the top three fastest growing e-bill customer base over the last five years (average annual growth rate was about 4.5%, as per CEA’s data).

• Hydro Ottawa is partnering with core behavioural data-based companies like Environics. Behavioral Economics (BE) is the scientific study of human behavior and offers powerful ways to create and measure change. Currently Environics and BE Works are two leading companies that are actively engaged withing the electricity sector, particularly in Ontario and are helping companies understand why people are hesitant to switch to e-bills and recommend new ways to approach this challenge.

Challenge Hydro Ottawa has been employing targeted paperless campaigns for several years to convince customers to switch to electronic billing. Using promotions and incentives, the utility managed to convince 50% of their customers to switch to paperless. After following the same strategy for about 10 years they felt they were starting to plateau, they had about 50,000 MyAccount customers who had not enrolled in e-billing. The work Hydro Ottawa did to get to this point was remarkable considering paperless billing rates in the industry were commonly in the 30% range. Because the company was already well ahead of the industry benchmark, it knew it was going to have to work even harder to build on those numbers.

Solution In 2018-2019 Hydro Ottawa commissioned Environics Research and Environics Analytics to design a new segmentation strategy rooted in psychographics and geo-demographic data. Their goal was to better understand who Hydro Ottawa’s customers were and what motivated them to adopt new products and services. By leveraging PRIZM5, Environics Analytics’ proprietary segmentation system and Social Values, jointly developed with Environics Research, which is a database that explains how an audience will respond to specific advertising and communications, Hydro Ottawa discovered it had seven distinct target groups. The segmentation approach showed that the early paperless adopters were higher income earners. While younger populations tend to favor technology more, age was not found to be a factor in who switched from their paper bills. The data showed that customers who lived in neighborhoods with greater access to technology and who were also comfortable using connected devices, were more likely to incorporate digital into other parts of their lives.

As a result, messages on visuals promoted in local campaigns were changed and this proved effective. By linking primary market research and third-party data analytics, Hydro Ottawa was able to see an opportunity to validate their work and to ensure they were on the right path.

Currently Toronto Hydro, SaskPower, BC Hydro and Hydro Ottawa are a few of the members that use data analytics tools. Toronto Hydro, SaskPower and Hydro One employ google analytics on their websites and on social media channels to understand click rates on online e-billing campaigns. Toronto Hydro monitors all their ads to see which ones are performing well. For example, last year Toronto Hydro submitted two ads as part of their e-billing campaign with different images and determined that parents with children performed better than ads geared towards older generations. These insights helped Toronto Hydro to adapt visual content to better promote local campaigns.

With these utilities having approximately 1.5 million customers, and with postage costs increasing every year, members can realize significant savings from a 1% to 2% increase in paperless adoption. By utilizing behavioral research, innovative tools, and analytics members can exceed the 50% ebilling enrollment rate.

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Improving Paperless Adoption Rates with Industry Best Practices Report Update - The Canadian Electricity Association

PAPERLESS BILLING CAMPAIGNS Lucky draws/Sweepstakes Toronto Hydro, SaskPower, BC Hydro, Nalcor Energy, and others have run similar monthly or quarterly digital campaigns.

SaskPower for example plans to run a $1000 Visa gift card contest in 2021 where all paperless billing accounts (new and existing) are entered into the draw for the first month of the campaign. In the months to follow, only new customers will be entered into the draw.

Cash prize/Gifts and Gift cards In general, members who have made strategic decisions to not enroll customer accounts to default e-billing tend to invest more in incentives and gifts than members who have enabled a default e-billing setting. For example, SaskPower decided to run a monthly draw for a $250 account credit amongst every customer that converted to paperless. Running these monthly promos for the 2019 calendar year saw a 4% increase (from 19% to 23%) in paperless numbers for that year.

Community Outreach Campaigns Members have engaged in “Go Green/Paperless” campaigns that promote social causes. Between 2015 and 2019, Hydro Ottawa partnered with the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) to plan and execute its annual “Go Paperless” campaign, which encouraged customers to adopt online billing. This strategic partnership has contributed an annual operational savings of more than $2.1 million for the company while enabling 54.2% of Hydro Ottawa’s customers to e-billing.

Alectra Utilities initiated the “Go online for our Frontline” initiative to support Ontario’s healthcare workers. Last year, Alectra donated approximately $200,000 to the frontline fund and this year, they have committed to donate an additional $50,000 from savings received from every customer who switches to e-billing before July 2021. Additionally, 1 in every 10 customers will be entered into a draw to win free electricity for a year. To date, Alectra Utilities has been able to convert 23,000 customers to e-billing and because of their overall digital bill conversion, the utility was able to saves about $3.5M annually in postage, packing, printing, and paper.

Trial Periods In 2020, NB Power and Hydro One conducted pilot initiatives for their online users where customers could receive both e-bills and paper bills for three months. After the pilot period ended, if the customer did not opt out of e-bills they were automatically converted to e-billing mode.

This year, NB Power will launch an auto-enrolment initiative in the summer for the remaining customers who have a profile created their website and who are not enrolled for e-billing. Hydro One is running an e-billing initiative where they will automatically enroll customers to electronic billing. Customers will be sent an email and letter advising that they are enrolled in e-Billing and before they receive their first e-bill, a reminder email is sent out to advise them that their next bill is going to be delivered via an electronic channel.

TECHNOLOGY PARTNERS - E-BILLING AND PAYMENT Based on our survey findings this year, members are currently viewing billing and payment as separate processes.

Different vendors are handling each function – web portal and payment, IVR functions, outbound notifications, paperless billing, credit card payment and processing, etc. These systems operate independently, however, our research indicates that new technologies provide a tremendous opportunity to merge them into a single, efficient, and cost saving process. Since many customers already view billing and payment as a single step (i.e., bill in hand when making a payment), technologies reinforce this habit. Online and mobile technologies further strengthen the bill-pay relationship since customers can review their balances and make payments in a single step.

Currently, Nova Scotia Power and Oakville Hydro have partnered with a third-party payment vendor (Kubra) and have been successful in integrating customer e-bill viewing and payment within their portal (Figure 13).

Figure 13: Current Electronic Bill View and Payment Process among members, Canada, 2021 Member

E-bill and Payment Process (Separate/Integrated)

E-billing Vendor

Payment Vendor

Fortis BC

Separate

N/A

N/A

Newfoundland Power Inc.

Separate

In-House

N/A

Hydro Ottawa

Separate

N/A

Payment gateway partnerPaymentus

Toronto Hydro

Separate

Kubra

N/A

Saskpower

Separate

Vertex

Payment Gateway PartnerMoneris

BC Hydro

Separate

In-House

N/A

NB Power

Separate

In-House

N/A

Saint-John Energy

Separate

In-House

N/A

Integrated in self-service portal

N/A

Payment gateway partnerPaymentus

Manitoba Hydro

Separate

Engage One

N/A

Hydro Quebec

Separate

In-House

N/A

Nova Scotia Power

Integrated in self-service portal

Kubra

Kubra

Oakville Hydro

Integrated in self-service portal

Kubra

Kubra

Utilities Kingston

Separate

SilverBlaze

N/A

Alectra Utilities

Separate

SilverBlaze

Payment gateway partnerPaymentus

Hydro One

Separate

Oracle/OPower

DatAvail

London Hydro

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Improving Paperless Adoption Rates with Industry Best Practices Report Update - The Canadian Electricity Association

Every interaction with a Canadian customer is an opportunity to strengthen relationships and maximize business profitability. Billing and payment touch points are ideal interactions because they command consumers’ attention every month. Although members have developed in-house solutions around e-bill payment and presentment, the current technical infrastructure falls short of offering a complete seamless customer solution. The key is to meet consumers where they choose to view and pay their bill and strategically guide them to low-cost channels, beginning with online payments and ultimately paperless billing. Members want a user-friendly Electronic Bill Presentment (EBP) solution provider that allows optimization of every customer interaction and one which supports paperless billing goals. (Figure 14).

When choosing an EBP provider, it is important to work with a company that will be a business partner rather than just a vendor. Besides finding a trusted, established organization with a proven track record and a strong history of reliability, here is a list of what to look for when you begin your evaluation: • Make sure the EBP provider conducts and/or commissions ongoing research and usability testing to understand consumer behavior to make product and user interface improvements.

• Choose a provider who invests in the future of EBP, stays in the forefront of new technology and can rapidly deploy proven and innovative solutions designed to drive paperless adoption.

• Choose a provider who has solutions for multiple channels so you can work with one company for all your EBP needs: a superior EBP solution at your biller direct site, the capability to deliver your e-bills to as many banks as possible, as well as the ability to support walk-in and phone payments.

• Work with a vendor who realizes that you have goals other than paper suppression and has solutions that can help. For example, if you have the desire to cross-sell and up-sell to consumers on your website, choose a vendor who can utilize billing information to create targeted, customized messaging within your EBP application.

• You want an EBP partner who offers marketing support and collaboration in developing campaigns designed to drive adoption. They should be able to tell you the best way to motivate your customers, what messages resonate best with different segments, and what incentives, if any, would be effective in changing consumer behaviors.

Alectra Utilities saves approximately $3.5M annually on postage, paper, printing, and packaging.

Figure 14: Comprehensive KUBRA EBP Solution for Canadian Energy Utilities (2021) KUBRA iDoxs E-Bill Delivery Cloud-based e-billing and self-service platform that offers multiple e-billing delivery models, online payments, inbound e-payment consolidation, and a comprehensive document indexing, archival, and retieval system.

KUBRA EZ-PAY

Allows customers view bills and make payments online, over the phone or in-person by credit card, debit card, cash, or electronic checks.

KUBRA iMail

KUBRA Pre-Pay

Allowes utilities to compose and design business-critical documents that maximize the impact for each customer engagement.

KUBRA iRemit Processing

Consolidates remittance data from multiple channels into a single accounts receivable stream

Allows utility customers to add money to their utility account beforeenergy is used.

Based on consumer feedback published by the CheckFree report, the following best practices can be adopted by members for their EBP functionality: • Offer real-time information so users can view their bill summary immediately after enrollment.

• Develop functionality that seamlessly integrates into your current website, so customers don’t have to log in separately to view and pay bills.

• Display bill presentment and payment within the website without pop-up windows.

• Provide customers the flexibility to choose their preferred payment method (scheduled, one-time, recurring, Auto Pay) and their preferred funding source (checking account, credit card, debit card, google pay, PayPal etc.).

• Present e-bill as a mirror image of the paper bill to ensure a smooth transition to your electronic version.

• Enable billing-related notifications via multiple channels like e-mail or text messages.

• Store enough bill history with quick and easy retrieval capabilities.

• Consider a Multi-Channel Approach to distribute Your e-Bills.

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Improving Paperless Adoption Rates with Industry Best Practices Report Update - The Canadian Electricity Association

By utilizing behavioral research, innovative tools, and analytics members can exceed the 50% ebilling enrollment rate.

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SASKPOWER CASE STUDY Since 2017, SaskPower’s online billing enrollment rate has witnessed an overall growth rate of ≈35 % and is the fastest growing e-bill enrollment rate among Canadian energy utilities. CEA interviewed the utility to understand initiatives that paved way to this phenomenal growth rate.

• Average Annual digital billing enrollment Growth of 4% (as per CEA customer council poll data) • 2020- 2021 Paperless Billing Enrollment Rate: 46% • Most successful paperless billing Initiative in 2020: COVID-19 related CSR outbound calls

DATA DRIVEN ANALYSIS

571k

$

Total Savings (2019-2021)

36%

% Increase in E-billing 0% +5% +3% +23%

Year 2018 2019 2020 2021

Overall Growth Rate (2017- 2021)

SaskPower E-billing Enrollment Rate (2017-2020) Paperless Accounts

E-Billing Penetration Rate

46% 15%

15%

20%

82,499

81,845

104,397

2017

2018

2019

23% 124,600 2020

234,177 2021

PAPERLESS BILLING CAMPAIGNS AND INITIATIVES As of 2021, SaskPower estimates Operational Cost savings- $1,128,000 / year ( Approximately $1 per e-bill in terms of savings) Challenge • As of January 2019, paperless was just an available option to customers and active initiatives were not taken to encourage customers to adopt e-bills. As a result, SaskPower had only 19% of their customers enrolled for e-billing and was positioned at the bottom tier among Canadian Utilities.

• With 500,000 customers on paper, cost of sending bills accounted to $ 6 million CAD Solution • In 2019, SaskPower ran monthly contests and promotions , whereby any customer that converted to paperless in the month would be entered for a $250 account credit.

• Donated $1 to Food bank of Saskatchewan in 2020 and $5 to Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital for every customer who switched to e-billing • Engaged with CSR agents to promote COVID-19 focused social media campaigns.

Other Initiatives • Annual Holiday Paperless Promotions- all customers that convert to paperless billing between Dec 7, 2020, to Jan 8th, 2021, was entered for a draw of two $1,000 Visa gift cards • All CSR agents receive 2 hours of e-billing training designed to help CSRs sell e-billing to customers. CSR agents aim to promote e-billing on all inbound calls and default to setting new SaskPower accounts on e-billing Acheivements • SaskPower’s monthly contests and promotions in 2019 ensured a 4% growth in overall digital billing conversions.

• The Covid campaign that ran from May 1 to Sept 1 converted 60,862 customers.

• As of Jan 1st, 2020, SaskPower had 118,110 customers on paperless, by Dec 1, 2020, they accounted 212,149 customers on paperless (94,039 new customers were enrolled in e-billing) • Operational Cost savings- $1,128,000 / year Future Goals/Strategies • E-billing goal of 52% by 2021-2022 • By the end of the year, customers will be able to receive text alerts when their bill is ready to view • SaskPower is currently redesigning both their digital and physical bills. With this redesign, it will come in an Interactive Bill with additional links, information items, etc. on the e-bill to better explain billing data.

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CONCLUSION CEA members across Canada experienced a significant increase in customer adoption of e-bills due to effective e-billing campaigns and for health and safety reasons due to the pandemic. This year members realized significant cost savings, continued to meet customers’ needs and expectations while helping the environment and engaging in community and social initiatives. However, customers’ needs, and expectations are being shaped by customer service delivery models in other sectors like telecom and banking - and these expectations are now being felt by the electric utility sector, especially when it comes to an overall seamless and easy digital experience.

Members are facing an increasingly challenging landscape of digital and online offerings, channels and destinations. Today’s customer expects the added interactivity, flexibility, and convenience that comes with digital channels, but a number of factors including jurisdictional regulatory frameworks, legacy systems, digital channel diversity, acceleration of technology and web and mobile support, to name a few, are hindering companies from being able to rapidly respond to customer demands.

These forces, and the ways members adapt to them will have a significant impact on paperless adoption in the future and overall customer satisfaction. Areas of untapped opportunity remain, particularly those technologies that offer mobile bill presentment and bill payment. Currently only three utilities have mobile apps that accommodate e-bill viewing and none that allow payment through a mobile app. To further e-bill penetration amongst Canadian utilities, members will be required to adopt newer digital platforms like mobile apps and text/SMS for viewing and for customers to be able to easily pay their bills.

To be the utility of the future, Canadian electricity companies have to offer diverse channels for different customers and engage with them where they are most comfortable. The focus needs to be on the customer experience, where there is flexibility and the customer can choose their channel of choice, and can switch seamlessly between channels. Ultimately, to do this the sector needs to engage with regulators to prioritize serving customers well and become customer centric organizations so the industry does not get left behind.

electricity.ca • electricite.ca info@electricity.ca    

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Improving Paperless Adoption Rates with Industry Best Practices Report Update - The Canadian Electricity Association