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TECO, Peoples Gas unveil new billing system in January

 
TECO Energy is changing its billing procedures, which will allow customer to more easily pay their bills online and with their smartphones. JAMES BORCHUCK  |  Times
TECO Energy is changing its billing procedures, which will allow customer to more easily pay their bills online and with their smartphones. JAMES BORCHUCK | Times
Published Dec. 22, 2016

TAMPA — TECO Energy is unveiling a new $80 million billing system next month that the company said will make it easier for electric and gas customers to access and pay their bills online.

The change, which will goes into effect Jan. 4, affects 1.1 million Tampa Electric and Peoples Gas customers in the Tampa Bay area and across Florida.

Gordon Gillette, CEO and president of Tampa Electric, who oversees the company's electric and gas operations, said the company is moving away from a 30-year-old customer information and billing system that had become outdated.

This new system will allow customers to access billing information on a variety of computer platforms, including smartphones and tablets, the company said. This will allow all customers to pay bills online. Currently, only those who have signed up for TECO's e-billing system can do so.

"It's about moving into this century for our customers," Gillette said in a meeting Wednesday with the Tampa Bay Times editorial board.

Gillette and other company officials said TECO has been planning the change for months and running its customer service employees and others through a variety of training scenarios with the aim of a seamless transition.

Customers' electric and gas bills have been redesigned to make them easier to understand, the company said. Eventually, 60,000 customers who get both electricity and natural gas from the company will be able to merge their bills rather than receive two a month.

Gillette said an update of TECO's computer system was a necessary first step as the company plans for upcoming technological advances in the way the utility operates.

TECO, using smart-meter technology, said it will eventually be able to read meters and turn service on or off from the office, rather than having to send employees out to do so.

The system, the company said, also will allow customers to more easily report outages via computer, rather than having to look up a phone number to call the utility.

The company said the changes will have no impact on current billing cycles.

While the costs of the new system are ultimately borne by TECO's customers, Gillette noted that favorable natural gas prices are nonetheless expected to lead to lower electric bills next year. The rate for the average residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity a month is expected to fall from the current $106.22 to $104.68 next year, Gillette said.

TECO said other regional utilities, including Duke Energy Florida, are operating billing systems with similar capabilities.

Contact William R. Levesque at levesque@tampabay.com or (813) 226-3432. Follow @Times_Levesque.