2021 BUDGET INITIATIVE

UTILITY BILLING PAPERLESS INCENTIVE

Building on efforts to make it easier for residents to plan their finances and pay their
bills, the City will implement a new policy that incentivizes utility billing customers
to select environmentally friendly paperless billing. By encouraging customers to
sign up for the online account management tool that offers paperless billing,
customers will have 24/7 access to their bills, while also saving printing and mailing
costs.

Currently, 109,687 of 495,000 account holders have selected paperless billing. The
goal is to increase the number of enrolled accounts by 20 percent or 21,937 by the
end of 2021. The incentive for customers to select paperless billing will be a one-
time $6.00 credit to their account.

The first year budget impact will be neutral. The $6.00 credit would be offset by the
reduction of postage costs. The second-year budget impact will be the postage
savings.

For example, a nonmetered account is billed monthly or 12 bills per year. The postal
rate per bill is $0.50, so the annual postage cost for 1 nonmetered account is $6.00.
In year 2, there is no incentive cost because the one-time credit was already issued
in year 1. The reduced postage expense would be all savings. If 21,937 accounts
select paperless billing, the year 2 savings will be $131,624.

Contingent upon approval by City Council, the City expects to implement the
paperless incentive in January 2021.

The new incentive to sign up for the utility billing paperless option is another step
the City has taken to assist residents with better budgeting their utility bills. In July
2020, Mayor Lightfoot launched the Chicago Utility Billing Relief Program (UBR)
which provides a pathway to compliance and an opportunity for utility debt
forgiveness for Chicago’s most financially vulnerable communities. An additional
customer service improvement will become effective December 1, 2020 when
nonmetered utility customers who are currently billed every six months will be
switched to a monthly basis, providing customers with a smaller monthly bill which
can be more easily budgeted. Additional efforts include offering more convenient
payment plans, and developing billing notices that better explain what the customer
is being billed for.
Online Account Management Features

• Paperless billing (via email notification)

• AutoPay provides automatic debit for the amount due from the customer’s
bank account on the due date
• SelectPay provides automatic monthly scheduled payments of an amount
chosen by the customer (e.g., non-metered customers on 6-month billing
cycle can pay smaller, more manageable monthly payments)
• View bills online
• View water consumption history in graph format
• Online payment plans, terms up to 36 months