JEA, the eighth-largest US municipal electric utility, has announced that over 10,000 customers have now signed up for its JEA MyWay Pay-As-You-Go program, three years on from launch. The program runs on the MyUsage prepayment solution from Exceleron Software, a prominent provider of prepayment software for North American utilities.
“Welcoming our 10,000th customer into JEA MyWay is a significant milestone that we are keen to celebrate with Exceleron,” said Brian Pippin, Manager of Customer Solutions at JEA. “We knew that JEA MyWay would offer tremendous benefits and empower customers, but the speed with which they have embraced the program has far exceeded our expectations.” Program participation has increased by more than 40%, on average, each month.
Customers who opt into JEA MyWay pay in advance for utility services, thereby avoiding deposits and electric disconnect/reconnect fees. They also receive access to daily consumption information and tools that help them make smaller, more frequent payments that fit their budget and lifestyle.
“The program’s popularity is a testament to JEA’s excellence in customer service and Exceleron’s experience providing a seamless solution for utilities operating in multiservice environments,” said Jeff Severs, COO of Exceleron.
Pippin noted that JEA’s residential customer satisfaction index increased from 640 in 2013 to 692 in 2015 as measured by J.D. Power. “We’ve seen how JEA MyWay leads to greater customer satisfaction and better service,” said Pippin. “Prepayment helps customers better manage their finances and understand how their behaviour impacts consumption and energy bills.”
JEA is one of a growing number of utilities in the United States who are introducing prepaid electric service based on their advanced metering infrastructure deployments. Prepaid service is already popular among the rural electric cooperatives and is increasingly being embraced by the public power companies such as JEA and the investor-owned utilities.