Photo Illustration by Jessica Kenny,
Centretown News
Hydro Ottawa expands Go Paperless campaign.In its latest Go Paperless campaign, Hydro Ottawa is giving its customers an incentive to switch from paper bills to electronic billing by tackling a pressing social issue: homelessness.
Each time a customer signs up for e-billing before Dec. 31, Hydro Ottawa will donate $5 to its Brighter Tomorrows Fund – a charitable initiative to combat homelessness created collaboratively by Hydro Ottawa and United Way Ottawa.
Rebecca Hickey, a Hydro Ottawa representative, says the company’s focus is to reduce the operating and environmental costs of paper bills, while creating the added incentive for customers of supporting a good social cause.
“It’s good for the environment and more economical for Hydro Ottawa,” says Hickey. “We understand that our customers have different needs. Not everyone will want paperless billing, but we certainly encourage more customers to switch to it.”
Hydro Ottawa created the Brighter Tomorrows Fund with United Way Ottawa in 2011. Since its establishment, Hydro Ottawa has raised nearly $530,000 towards the fund.
Many customers already receive their bill by e-mail. Hydro Ottawa serves more than 315,000 customers, a quarter of which had switched to e-billing by the end of September, says Hickey.
Centretown resident Callum Young says he recently made the switch to e-billing because of Hydro Ottawa’s Go Paperless campaign.
“I pay all my other bills through e-billing so it wasn’t a big switch for me,” he says. “Hydro Ottawa was actually the last one that I switched over.”
This isn’t the first time Hydro Ottawa has made an effort to get its customers to transition to online billing. Last year, it ran a similar campaign – promising to plant a tree every time a customer made the switch. Hickey says the focus was to emphasize the environmental costs of paper billing.
According to Hickey, last year’s campaign led more than 14,000 customers to sign up for e-billing. Chartwell, a utility-focused customer service and marketing research firm, awarded Hydro Ottawa with its Best Practices Award for encouraging so many people to go paperless. Hickey explains that after such a successful campaign, the company decided to launch a similar program this fall.
“We just want to bring it to our customers’ attention again,” she says.
“I think it’s something that a lot of our customers would want, but don’t realize is available to them.”
Though many customers are interested in receiving their hydro bills by e-mail, some Ottawa residents aren’t ready to give up the paper copies.
“I just don’t like anything electronic, I love having a paper copy of certain things,” says Ryan Furlong, a student living in Centretown. “I think it’s easier to manage. It’s just like taking notes. I’d rather have them on paper than take them on my computer.”
Furlong fears that if he switches to e-billing, his bill could easily be forgotten among a full inbox of emails. He says the paper copy acts as a reminder to pay the bill.
“I understand. It’s definitely better for the environment, but it’s just not something I’m willing to sacrifice.”