Toronto: Hydro One announced August 17 that it had begun providing its customers additional flexibility to customize payment options on their accounts. Customers can choose their own billing due date, flatten usage spikes from temperature fluctuations through balanced billing, and monitor their electricity consumption by signing up for early high usage notifications.
“Being in-tune with our customers’ needs is more important than ever. As we continue to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic, customers tell us that choice and flexibility will help them during this difficult time,” said Jason Fitzsimmons, Chief Corporate Affairs and Customer Care Officer, Hydro One. “As a customer-driven organization, we have an important responsibility to support customers with relief, flexibility and choice.”
According to recent research conducted by Angus Reid, 78 per cent of Ontario electricity customers said balanced billing would help them better manage their finances. Balanced billing flattens out the spikes in electricity usage that commonly occur in the summer due to air conditioning use and in the winter due to heating.
The research also found that 72 per cent of customers would like to pick their own due date to better manage their finances. This feature is now included in Hydro One’s new customization bundle, which will be shared with customers through an awareness campaign. Other customization tools include alerts when electricity usage falls outside of the customer’s normal pattern, the ability to report outages online and the ability to receive text messages or emails when outages occur. Customers can visit www.HydroOne.com/Choice to learn more.